MONTANA: GOP State AG Asks Federal Court To Uphold Same-Sex Marriage Ban

GOP Montana Attorney General Tim Fox has asked a federal court to uphold his state’s ban on same-sex marriage because it does not discriminate against gay people.

Fox, in documents filed in federal court in Great Falls, denied all the allegations brought by the four gay couples who filed the lawsuit in May. The move was not unexpected, as Fox had said previously he would vigorously defend the ban. Approved by voters in 2004, the ban says marriage is between a man and woman. In his response, Fox asked the court to dismiss the complaint, arguing Montana’s ban does not impose an unconstitutional “stigma or second-class citizenship on persons in same sex relationships.” The couples, however, allege in their lawsuit that the ban denies same-sex couples freedoms and dignity afforded to other Montanans and that it denies them legal protections and benefits that come with marriage.

A reader tips us that prior to being elected attorney general in 2012, Fox was the attorney for the anti-gay Montana Family Foundation.