Bobby Jindal Runs Out Of Options; New Orleans To Issue Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples

Republican Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal on Thursday gave up the fight to keep gay couples from marrying in Orleans Parish, which includes New Orleans.

Jindal, a candidate for the White House, has been resisting the Supreme Court's landmark ruling declaring that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry in all 50 states.

Orleans Parish, which is under the control of Jindal, has yet to issue a marriage license to a gay couple, though licenses have been issued in every other parish.

The governor first said that he would wait for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court's ruling which upheld Louisiana's gay marriage.

When the Fifth Circuit handed down its ruling on Wednesday and instructed the district court to reverse its findings, Jindal said that he would wait for the lower court to act.

(Related: Despite appeals court ruling, Bobby Jindal blocks Louisiana recognition of gay marriages.)

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman quickly complied, handing down a ruling Thursday instructing officials to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.

Olivia Hwang, spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, said that the court had ordered the agency to comply.

“Today the Eastern District Court of Louisiana ordered the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples who complete a marriage application at the Department's Office of Vital Records in Orleans Parish,” she said.