SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The federal challenge to California’s same-sex marriage ban is attracting nationwide attention in the form of "friend of the court" briefs.
Groups and individuals supporting and opposed to gay marriage submitted a flurry of opinions on the subject Wednesday, the deadline Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn R. Walker had set for the filing of amicus briefs.
Among those siding with the pair of same-sex couples suing to overturn the 2008 law passed by voters as Proposition 8 were the National Association of Social Workers, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ and a retired state appeals court judge.
Last month, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and the National Organization for Marriage were among those supporting the ban’s sponsors.
