The US Supreme Court has turned away appeals from five states seeking to prohibit same-sex marriages, paving the way for an immediate expansion of gay and lesbian unions.
The ruling would make same-sex marriage legal in 30 states and the Washington capital district.
The court’s order immediately ends delays on same-sex marriage in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Couples in six other states should be able to get married imminently.
But the justices have left unresolved for now the question of same-sex marriage across America.