Utah officials said on Tuesday that the state must prohibit same-sex marriage in order to save the children.
Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes and Governor Gary Herbert appeared in Denver's U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday to contest a ruling made by a Salt Lake City federal judge that said the Constitution protects LGBT couples' rights to marry.
"All of Utah's children - both now and in future generations" must be defended by the state, the two officials said. By banning same-sex marriage, Utah's voters "reaffirmed among other things their firm belief - also supported by sound social science - that moms and dads are different, not interchangeable, and that the diversity of having both a mom and a dad is the ideal parenting environment."
Utah has been locked in a legal battle with federal courts for months on the legalization of gay marriage, Businessweek reported.
After striking down a ban against same-sex unions in 2013, nearly 1,000 Utah residents rushed to courthouses around the country to marry. But shortly thereafter, Supreme Court justices stopped all gay weddings, pending appeals from the state.
LGBT couples can currently legally marry in 17 states.
Utah's rhetoric concerning gay marriage bears similarities to Russia's, where anti-homosexual legislation banning "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" is meant to protect members of the country's youth.
Kremlin officials backed the law last July, which effectively bans all conversation and media circulation concerning homosexuality. Any citizen caught endorsing the LGBT community will be fined, with even higher penalties for those who are caught giving out information on homosexuality to minors.
