Same-sex Marriage Arrives In Arizona, Now Legal Throughout The West

Julie Engbloom, left, and Laurie Brown, right, get married in Portland last May, after a U.S. District Court judge threw out Oregon’;s ban on same-sex marriage, and the state declined to appeal the ruling.  Marriage equality has since come to four other Western states.  (AP Photo/Steve Dykes) A U.S. District Judge cleared the way for same-sex marriage to begin in Arizona, ruling on Friday that the state’s laws against marriage equality are “unconstitutional by virtue of the fact that they deny same-sex couples the equal protection of the law.” Attorney General Tom Horne said the state won’t appeal and ordered county clerks to immediately begin issuing marriage licenses.