Robert Shelby, a former Army combat engineer, knocked over the first domino.
As a U.S. district judge — appointed in 2012 by President Barack Obama with support from Utah’s two conservative Republican senators — Shelby ruled in December that the state’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
Since then, in an unbroken string of victories for gay-marriage backers, a dozen other judges across the nation have followed suit, overturning bans or ordering states to recognize gay marriages from out of state.
Collectively, these judges are diverse — white and black, male and female, gay and straight, some appointed by Democratic presidents and some by Republicans. However, they seemed to draw common inspiration from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June 2013 that ordered the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages.
In March, Friedman — now 70 — struck down the gay-marriage ban approved by Michigan voters in 2004. The day after his ruling, in a brief window before a stay was issued, Levy performed several same-sex marriages.
