Ten States Including Wyoming File Amicus Brief Opposing Judge Vaughn Walker Ruling That Gay Marriage Fundamental Right

Wyoming, and nine other states filed a legal brief Friday arguing that a federal court “exceeded its judicial authority” when it ruled in August that the United States Constitution requires legal marriage to include same sex couples, the Casper Star-Tribune reports Saturday. The amicus brief filed with the 9th United States Court of Appeals criticized Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling striking down California’s Proposition 8, the voter passed ban that amended the state’s constitution to define marriage as that only existing between one man and one woman, Walker writing that “moral disapproval” was not sufficient to ban gays and lesbians the fundamental right to marry. The case is currently on appeal, and attorneys for both the plaintiffs and defendants expect it to reach the United States Supreme Court. Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, South Caroline, Utah, and Virginia are the other states to join the 39-page brief, which argues that same sex marriage is not a fundamentally guaranteed rights, questions the legal grounds of the decision, and maintains that individual states, not the federal court system, holds the final determination regarding whether to allow gay marriage. Perhaps most troubling, the brief also argues that Walker’s definition of marriage as a the state’s approval of a couple’s choice to live with, commit to, and form a household and economic partnership with each other is a “staggeringly broad” definition that could lead to polyamorous or non-sexual marriages, stating “If public affirmation of anyone or everyone’s personal love and commitment is the single purpose of marriage, a limitless number of rights claims could be set up to evacuate the term marriage of any meaning.” The amicus brief does not necessary suggest that the states are joining the lawsuit, but rather expressing a volunteered opinion, however Jason Marsden of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, said it was “very puzzling” that Wyoming Attorney General Bruce Salzburg opted to participate given that in 2009 the Wyoming Legislature defeated a resolution to ban recognition of gay marriages performed in other states. “I thought it’d be pretty clear that the legislative branch, at least, doesn’t want to send this kind of message of lack of acceptance to its gay and lesbian citizens. But the attorney general appears to have taken another direction,” said Marsden.