A 42-page brief by a coalition of religious organizations was submitted on Monday in order to appeal to a federal court reviewing cases which may reverse the gay marriage ban in Utah and Oklahoma, the Associated Press reported.
Attorneys for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops who wrote the the brief state the union between a man and woman are best for children, families and society, according to the AP.
The brief was also signed by the National Association of Evangelicals and Southern Baptist and Lutheran organizations, the AP reported.
"Our respective religious doctrines hold that marriage between a man and a woman is sanctioned by God as the right and best setting for bearing and raising children," the brief states, according to the AP. "We believe that children, families, society, and our nation thrive best when husband-wife marriage is upheld and strengthened as a cherished, primary social institution."
According to the brief, opposite-sex marriages, according to God, is the best environment for raising children, the AP reported.
The religious groups deny their opposition to gay marriage is due to "ill-will toward same-sex couples," but only because of their "marriage-affirming religious beliefs," according to the AP.
"The accusation is false and offensive," the brief states, the AP reported. "It is intended to suppress rational dialogue and democratic conversation, to win by insult and intimidation rather than by reason, experience, and fact."
Other "friend of the court" briefs were submitted by other groups, professors and state attorneys on Monday supporting the move to reverse the newly passed law by federal court judges, the AP reported.
In that decision, the justices wrote that limiting marriages to a man and a woman relegates gay marriages to second-class status and "humiliates tens of thousands of children now being raised by same-sex couples," according to the AP.
In a statement released Monday night, Shannon Minter, the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said the law needs to protect all citizens, according to the AP.
"The state cannot exclude any group of people from a fundamental right based on religious views held by some. Our society is strengthened when the law both supports all families and protects the freedoms of conscience and belief," Minter said, according to the AP.
