Some gay Couples rush to wed, opponents vow to fight(Photos}

With the mayor of Dayton declaring "you are now husband and husband," the wait for Ohio to allow same-sex marriage ended for a gay couple in the city just as it is ending for couples across the last states with bans on such unions — even if the opposition isn't over.

Some couples rushed to marriage license bureaus and even wed Friday within hours of the Supreme Court ruling that said gay couples can marry anywhere in the country including in the 14 remaining states with bans. Steadfast activists who say traditional marriage is defined as a man and a woman vowed to defend rights of religious objectors and to try to battle back politically.

There were also scattered holdouts, with some officials in those states contending they needed more time and legal direction before complying with the 5-4 ruling.

"Texans' fundamental right to religious liberty remains protected," Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said. "No Texan is required by the Supreme Court's decision to act contrary to his or her religious beliefs regarding marriage."

His office later clarified a directive to state agencies telling them to preserve religious liberties, saying the order didn't allow them to discriminate against employees in same-sex couples. Governors in Louisiana and Mississippi also railed against the ruling.

"This has always been about our religious freedoms and the persecution of those who believe same-sex unions are wrong," said Phil Burress, longtime leader of the Citizens for Community Values in suburban Cincinnati. "Now the persecutions will begin."

The Roman Catholic archbishop of Cincinnati said the high court disregarded the will of voters in Ohio and other states, besides disregarding an understanding of marriage shared by virtually all cultures until recently.

"Every nation has laws limiting who and under what circumstances people can be married," Archbishop Dennis Schnurr said in a statement.

Religious organizations are exempt from the ruling, and churches including Southern Baptists, Mormons and others that oppose same-sex marriages can still make their own decisions about whether clergy will conduct gay marriages in their places of worship.

The high court gave the losing side some three weeks to ask for reconsideration. The 14 states that had banned gay marriage are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, most of Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.

Officials at the county courthouse in Toledo, Ohio, called in another minister to perform same-sex marriages Friday because the rotating minister on duty wouldn't marry gay couples, said the Rev. Sandra Frost, who married the first couple around noon.

Some county clerks in other states refused gay couples, citing a three-week grace period allowed by the Supreme Court or forms now out of date that specify "bride" and "groom."

Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond (Virginia) law professor, said political opponents of same-sex marriage will likely push legislation to expand religious freedom and to aim at protecting those who don't want to participate in actions that facilitate same-sex marriage.