Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and
state Attorney General Robert Cooper on Tuesday asked a federal judge
to set aside her ruling forcing Tennessee to recognize the
out-of-state marriages of three gay couples as the state pursues an
appeal.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Aleta A.
Trauger issued a preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiff
couples, saying that marriage bans like Tennessee's “will soon
become a footnote in the annals of American history.”
(Related: Judge
rules Tennessee must recognize marriages of 3 gay couples.)
Haslam and Cooper said that striking
down the law without an appeal “frustrates the will of the people.”
A spokeswoman for Cooper's office told
the AP that the state intends “to take all necessary steps to
defend the law.”
Federal judges in recent months have
knocked down all or part of similar bans in Utah, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Kentucky, Virginia and Texas.