MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley is asking an appellate court to stay a judge’s decision that overturned Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage.
In a Friday filing with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyers for Bentley argued that states have a right to define marriage as between a man and a woman.
U.S. District Judge Callie V. S. Granade last week overturned Alabama’s gay marriage ban, potentially making Alabama the 37th state where gays can legally wed.
Granade put her order on hold until Feb. 9 to give the state time to appeal.
The Alabama attorney general has asked to put the decision on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the issue of gay marriage later this year.
The governor’s brief is here →
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