Arkansas diocese wants to enter gay marriage suit

Little Rock, Ark. (AP) — The leader of Arkansas' Roman Catholic diocese wants the state's highest court to consider his thoughts on the state's voter-approved gay-marriage ban as it considers whether to reinstate it.

Bishop Anthony Taylor asked the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday to accept a friend of the court brief that argues in favor of the 2004 ban, which a Pulaski County judge tossed in the spring.

Justices have given parties until Oct. 15 to file briefs; Taylor wants the court to consider his belief that eliminating the ban would undermine an institution considered the bedrock of society.

"There is no authority in the (U.S. or Arkansas constitutions) that authorizes the judiciary to overturn the definition of marriage," Taylor wrote, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The bishop said the stand against gay marriage does not reflect any animosity toward same-sex couples.

"If marriage is solely about the kind and quality of love that two persons share and the legal rights and responsibilities they desire to undertake ... taken to its logical conclusion, then states must allow couples such as mother and a daughter, sister and sister, or brother and brother to marry," the bishop wrote.

An attorney representing couples who challenged the ban says she doesn't object to the church's filing but says it could be off-topic.

"We're not asking for Holy Matrimony," Cheryl Maples said. "We're asking for civil marriages."

Judge Chris Piazza overturned the ban in May, prompting a weeklong run on some clerks offices by more than 500 same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses.

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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock, AR.

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The Gayly – September 27, 2014 @ 10:25am