BLUFFTON, S.C. — South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson says any final decision on the legality of same-sex marriage in the state could be months away.
Area media outlets report Wilson made the comment during a campaign stop at Sun City near Hilton Head Island on Wednesday when he was confronted by a same-sex couple who were married in Washington, D.C.
The state is the defendant in two federal lawsuits filed in South Carolina over gay marriage.
Wilson says he has gay friends and has received angry calls. But he says his first obligation is to defend state law and the state constitution.
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Wilson says he wishes the U.S. Supreme Court had heard arguments on the issue and ruled with finality instead of leaving it up to various courts in various states.
On Wednesday, South Carolina Equality and Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court arguing that South Carolina is obligated to allow same-sex couples to marry, consistent with a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
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