The United States government says it will give full federal backing to more than 1000 same-sex marriages in Utah which the socially conservative state has refused to recognise.
US Attorney General Eric Holder said gay and lesbian couples who married in Utah after a judge struck down a state law banning same-sex marriage would be eligible for federal benefits enjoyed by other couples.
"I am confirming today that, for the purposes of federal law, these marriages will be recognised as lawful and considered for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages," Holder said in a statement.
It was the latest twist in a legal battle that erupted in December when a federal judge overturned Utah's law banning same-sex marriage.
The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily blocked any further same-sex marriages in Utah after the state filed an emergency request to stay the judge's ruling.
On Wednesday, Utah Governor Gary Herbert's staff sent a memo to state officials instructing them not to recognise the same-sex marriages carried out in a 17-day window that was closed by this week's Supreme Court ruling.
"With the district court injunction now stayed, the original laws governing marriage in Utah return to effect pending final resolution by the courts," Herbert's chief of staff Derek Miller said in the memo.
"It is important to understand that those laws include not only a prohibition of performing same-sex marriages but also recognising same-sex marriages."
Some 1300 marriage licenses for same-sex couples were issued in the period between the two rulings in Utah, which is home to a large Mormon population.
Holder, however, said the federal government would fully recognise the same-sex marriages in Utah, in keeping with last June's landmark Supreme Court ruling which found that couples in same-sex marriages were entitled to the same benefits and protections as their heterosexual counterparts.
Holder said the US Justice Department had been "working tirelessly" to ensure the Supreme Court ruling was enforced.
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