JACKSON, Miss. — Self-identified polygamists have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to prevent gay marriages in Mississippi, saying the law doesn’t pass the constitutional test prohibiting the government from favoring one religious view over another.
If gay marriage is legal, then polygamy marriage should be legal, the lawsuit says.
“This case concerns only what states may do under the Constitution” in determining how the Constitution permits the states to legally define marriage and which types of marriages the states can legally recognize, according to the lawsuit. "The plaintiffs are not bigots for respectfully asking that this court uphold the Constitution."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District, seeks to stop the state from recognizing gay marriages.
The lawsuit was filed against Pontotoc Circuit Clerk Melinda Nowicki, state Attorney General Jim Hood and Gov. Phil Bryant.
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Similar lawsuits have been filed in other states. The filers of the Mississippi lawsuit say it presents an alternative to the argument of constitutional rights for gay marriages.
The U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriages in 2015.
Last year, Mississippi passed a controversial law that proponents said protected the beliefs that marriage is only between a man and a woman, sex should only take place in such marriage, and a person’s gender is determined at birth and can’t be altered.
A three-judge panel of 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in June lifted a ban on the law going into effect. However, opponents of the law filed a motion asking the entire 5th Circuit to rule on the case.
Follow Jimmie E. Gates on Twitter: @jgatesnews
