( CNN ) -- Utah officials for the time being do not have to formally recognize hundreds of same-sex marriages performed last December and earlier this year , after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday granted the state 's request for a delay . Gov . Gary Herbert and Attorney General Sean Reyes had told the justices the issue of whether the state 's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional remains pending in the lower courts . Having to recognize those same sex marriages before the larger legal questions are fully decided , said the state , would be too disruptive . Once the constitutional issues are fully resolved -- - likely by the Supreme Court in the next year or so -- both sides in the debate `` will know the status of the interim marriages . Until then , requiring [ the state ] to recognize plaintiffs ' marriages and provide marital benefits is premature and unwarranted , '' said the appeal . In a one-paragraph order , the high court agreed . But that temporary action does not signal what the justices will ultimately think about the larger constitutional issues raised by gay and lesbian couples seeking a right to wed. A federal appeals court late last month affirmed Utah 's voter-approved Amendment 3 violated the equal protection rights of same-sex couples . The law currently defines marriage only between one man and one woman . A group of plaintiffs then asked that court to order the state to recognize those marriage licenses already issued in late December and January . The judges did so , prompting the state 's current stay request to the Supreme Court . About 1,300 same-sex couples obtained marriage licenses in the 17 days after a federal judge ruled on December 20 that Utah 's ban was unconstitutional . Those marriages were stopped after a separate , temporary stay was put in place in January by the Supreme Court . That was the issue in the current litigation . The case is Herbert v. Evans ( 14A65 ) . Same-sex marriages also were the subject of a ruling in Colorado on Friday . County clerks in the Denver area have been ordered by the state 's highest court to cease issuing same-sex marriage licenses , until the issue is fully decided . The state attorney general had asked for the injunction , saying he plans to defend Colorado 's voter-approved measure defining marriages as only between one man and one woman . John Suthers had argued allowing those marriages to go through while the issue is still being debated in the courts would be `` legal chaos . '' After local judges in Colorado in recent weeks week also ruled the state 's ban to be unconstitutional , several local clerks -- in Denver , Adams , Pueblo , and Boulder -- said they had to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples who requested them . But the state high court 's action puts all that on hold for the time being . The same federal appeals court that acted in the Utah case on Friday also tossed out Oklahoma 's ban . Both states plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to have the final say . Same-sex marriage : Fast Facts .
U.S. Supreme Court says marriage recognition not currently required . Utah is appealing after judge rejected state ban on same-sex marriages . Issue will have to go through the appeals process . Same-sex wedding licenses put on hold in Colorado counties .