OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Gay and lesbian couples asked the state Supreme Court to reconsider its decision upholding Washington’s gay marriage ban, saying the court’s flawed reasoning ignored legal protections against sex discrimination.

The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision, issued late last month, held that state lawmakers were justified in restricting marriage to unions between a man and woman.

That decision overruled two lower courts, which had found the state’s 1998 Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. Because there were no federal legal issues raised in the case, an appeal beyond the state Supreme Court is not an option — likely making last week’s motion the last stand for gay-marriage advocates in state court.

Lawyers for the 19 couples in the combined gay marriage case relied on a pair of legal arguments in their motion asking the court to reconsider.

The court’s finding that the legislature had a “rational basis” for seeking to regulate marriage was flawed, plaintiffs argued.

“They couldn’t show any reason how it could hurt opposite-sex couples if same-sex couples get married, or why same-sex couples’ children wouldn’t equally benefit if their parents could get married,” said Jon Davidson, a lawyer with the gay rights group Lambda Legal.

The ruling also overlooked an aspect of the state constitution’s sex discrimination protections, the plaintiffs argued, by not recognizing that the gay marriage law treats individuals differently based on their gender — a man can marry a woman, but a woman can’t do the same, Davidson said.

© Copyright 2006 Window Media LLC | User Agreement and Privacy Policy

Southern Voice | Express Gay News | David Atlanta | The 411 Mag | Genre Magazine