Callie V. Granade, a Federal District Court judge, ruled in January that Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Her ruling was on hold until Monday, Feb. 9, to give the state a chance to appeal. Today the U.S. Supreme Court refused the state’s request to continue to stay the judge’s order striking down the state’s gay marriage ban, which made Alabama the 37th state to allow same-sex marriages.

The ruling denied a request by the state’s attorney general to continue the hold on allowing gay marriage while it decided whether laws banning same-sex unions violate the U.S. Constitution.

In defiance of the ruling, at least 51 out of 67 Alabama counties were continuing to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. However, many judges started granting licenses today, and critics are blasting Alabama’s Chief Justice Roy Moore for ordering county judges to go against a federal judge.

Dozens of same-sex couples were married at courthouses throughout the state, but in other areas requests for licenses were refused, and in some areas the marriage license offices were closed completely. Mobile County is the state’s second-most-populated, and their marriage license office was closed. Lawyers filed a motion asking that a federal court hold the probate judge in contempt. In Florence, Judge James Hall explained that he would not issue licenses, saying “I’m caught up in the middle of this.” Couples found themselves driving to other cities who were honoring the federal judge’s ruling.

Conflicting orders were greeting judges as the day began. Chief Justice Moore was calling on Gov. Robert Bentley to take action against judges who issued licenses to same-sex couples. At the same time, judges refusing to issue licenses could face federal court sanctions.

The town of Troy was denying name changes to lesbian couples, because the requests indicated that they had married in other states. Pike County’s probate judge, Wes Allen, said that he was following orders from Moore and could not recognize name changes.

David G. Kennedy is an attorney representing the two women whose case prompted the decision by Judge Granade. He says that the Alabama situation is not a federal intervention, but the federal court declaring what the rights of same-sex couples are under the federal Constitution.