Washington (AP) – The D.C. Superior Court says it is adding a second marriage ceremony room and boosting marriage bureau staffing to accommodate an increase in applications believed to be the result of a gay marriage ruling by the Supreme Court earlier this year.
The D.C. Superior Court says its second ceremony room opened Sept. 16. The clerk of the court, Duane Delaney, said in a statement that marriage license applications have significantly increased since the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case U.S. v. Windsor in June. The decision struck down a law denying federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples.
“We recently experienced a significant increase in our workload, it seems as a result of the US Supreme Court’s decision in US v. Windsor. The last two months we have seen a doubling in the usual number of marriage license applications, with more than 100 customers served each day,” Delaney said in a statement.
The Superior Court generally receives 300 to 400 marriage license applications a month. In July and August respectively the court received 977 and 908 marriage license applications. As a result of the increase, additional staff have been detailed to the marriage bureau, according to court spokeswoman Leah Gurowitz.
Thirteen states and the District of Columbia currently permit same-sex marriages. The nation’s capital began allowing same-sex couples to marry in 2010.
