Lawyers in the first federal trial to examine whether state bans on same-sex marriages are constitutional have submitted new written arguments to the judge who will decide the issue.
Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker requested the briefs summarizing the respective sides’ evidence to help him prepare for closing arguments.
In papers filed late Friday, lawyers for the sponsors of California’s gay marriage ban offered new twists on their claim that allowing gay men and lesbians to wed could undermine man-woman unions.
The potential harms they cited included giving bisexuals a legal basis for pursuing group marriages and unmarried fathers an incentive to abandon their children.
Lawyers for gay marriage supporters argued that no evidence existed to back those claims.
Walker plans to schedule closing arguments in the case sometime soon.
