Faith Groups Want High Court to Settle Gay Marriage

Churches and groups of different denominations in Utah are asking the Supreme Court to settle whether states can outlaw gay marriage.

Religious groups from evangelical, Catholic, and Mormon churches are asking the high court to uphold religious freedom.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said it joined four other faiths to file a "friend-of-the-court" brief. The brief asks the high court to hear Utah's marriage case.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Ethics & Religious Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod joined the brief. The groups represent more than 100 million Americans.

"The time has come to end the divisive national debate as to whether the constitution mandates same-sex marriage," the brief states. "The Court should promptly end the long-coming and sharply divisive controversy over the constitutional status of same-sex marriage."

Meanwhile, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco will hear arguments on gay marriage bans in Idaho, Nevada, and Hawaii Monday.