RICHMOND, VA A federal appeals court has denied a request to delay its ruling striking down Virginia's same-sex marriage ban. (At Left: Commonwealth of Virginia Seal has got to make Virginia's flag the gayest looking in all fifty states.)

A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond on Wednesday denied the request by a county court clerk in northern Virginia to stay the decision while it is appealed to the Supreme Court.

That means that without intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court, same-sex couples could begin marrying and have their out-of-state marriages recognized by next Wednesday.