Montgomery County gets green light on same-sex marriage licenses

    The suburban Philadelphia county that had been legally prevented from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples can now do so.A Montgomery County spokesman said he expects officials to begin granting licenses at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in Norristown.

    Counties throughout the state have been issuing the licenses since a federal judge legalized gay marriage in Pennsylvania last week.

    But Montgomery County couldn’t grant any because of a stop order in a pending lawsuit.

    Last year, the county Register of Wills Bruce Hanes issued licenses to 174 same-sex couples before gay marriage was legal in Pennsylvania. A court ordered the rogue county to stop.

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    That order wasn’t lifted until Tuesday. County spokesman Frank Custer says the ruling came after offices had closed for the day.

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