Arkansas Diocese Wants to Enter Gay Marriage Suit

The leader of Arkansas' Roman Catholic diocese wants the state's highest court to consider his thoughts on the voter-approved gay-marriage ban.

Anthony Taylor, the bishop of Little Rock, asked the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday to accept a friend of the court brief that argues justices should uphold Arkansas' 2004 same-sex-marriage ban. A state judge tossed the ban last spring.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1rxOoDr ), the filing notes the ban was enacted by the people and says eliminating it would undermine an institution that is the bedrock of any society.

An attorney representing couples who challenged the ban says she doesn't object to the church's filing but says it could be off-topic. Cheryl Maples says the couples are asking for civil marriage, not Holy Matrimony.