Gay Marriage Opposition Brief Filed

Ten states have filed a brief opposing marriage equality with a federal appeals court in California, reports the Associated Press.

The 39-page amicus brief states that the Constitution does not require marriage to include same-sex couples and states, not federal courts, have final say in whether to allow same-sex marriages. The brief was sent to the ninth circuit U.S. court of appeals Friday.

Last month a federal judge ruled that that California's Proposition 8, a voter-passed ban on same-sex marriage, was unconstitutional. Judge Vaughn Walker ruled there was no legitimate state interest in preventing same-sex marriages and that "moral disapproval" alone wasn't sufficient reason to justify banning them. The case is currently being appealed.

States who joined the brief against marriage equality are Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.