British Broadcasting Corporation
Man marrying woman Keith Bardwell said he was happy to marry couples of the same race
A white US justice of the peace who refused to sign a marriage licence for a mixed-race couple has resigned, Louisiana officials have said.
Keith Bardwell had faced calls to stand down after he refused to issue the licence because the bride was white and the bridegroom was black.
He denied racism but said mixed-race children were not readily accepted by their parents' communities.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal called the resignation "long overdue".
"This was the right decision by Mr Bardwell. What he did was clearly wrong," he said in a statement.
The office of Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said it had received a statement from Mr Bardwell saying: "I do hereby resign the office of Justice of the Peace for the Eighth Ward of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, effective November 3, 2009."
No reason for the resignation was specified.
'Lawsuit filed'
The couple Mr Bardwell refused to issue a licence for - Beth Humphrey, 30, and Terence McKay, 32 - have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against him, US media reported.
Ms Humphrey said that when she phoned Mr Bardwell on 6 October to discuss getting the licence, his wife told her about his stance on mixed-race marriage.
She said she had not expected such comments "in this day and age".
Mr Bardwell, who has worked as a justice of the peace for 34 years, said that in his experience most interracial marriages did not last very long.
He estimated that he had refused applications to four couples in the past two-and-a-half years.
Print Sponsor
video Susan Boyle is mobbed in New York
video One-minute World News
video Living the American dream
video 'Coma' man conscious for years
video Iraq war inquiry set to begin
video Window cleaner survives fall
video Army 'dissent' over West Bank role
video Gaza peace protest held in UK
video Muslims brave swine flu for Hajj
video US 'has no choice' on climate change
Chimneys silhouetted against the sun
Warming globeUS President Barack Obama and Commander of US Forces in Afghanistan Stanley McChrystal
Mardell's AmericaA man in the act of killing a buffalo
In picturesMost Popular Now | 16,471 people are reading stories on the site right now.
Quantcast
BBC © MMIX
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.watch One-Minute World News