SALT LAKE CITY — The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting a challenge of Utah’s same-sex marriage ban.
The brief, filed Thursday, argues that the constitutional amendment and other laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation should be subjected to heightened scrutiny.
ACLU Utah legal director John Mejia said in a statement that the law denies loving, committed couples the protection and dignity of marriage.
The motion comes less than a week after attorneys for the state filed motions defending the ban, saying it promotes the state’s interest in “responsible procreation” and the “optimal mode of child-rearing.”
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The state’s motions note Utah is the most-married and “child-centric” state in the nation, and the state has a right to set as policy an “age-old and still predominant” definition of marriage.
“Same-sex couples, who cannot procreate, do not promote the state’s interests in responsible procreation (regardless of whether they harm it),” the state argues.
The ACLU brief is here.
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