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Utahns rally in support of Amendment 3, traditional marriage

Posted at 5:51 PM, Apr 11, 2014
and last updated 2014-04-11 19:51:47-04

SALT LAKE CITY -- Lawyers for the state of Utah went before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver Thursday, arguing their case for Utah’s Amendment 3, which defines marriage as solely between a man and a woman.

The Utah Eagle Forum and several other groups supporting traditional marriage held a rally at the Utah State Capitol to welcome them back Friday.

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and lead counsel Gene Schaerr received a warm welcome at the event.

“We appreciate everything that you’ve done to help us stand up and defend the laws of the state of Utah and to help us defend Utah’s right to define marriage as between a man and a woman,” Reyes said.

The author and sponsor of Amendment 3, Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-District 32, was also honored by those at the rally.

“This issue is about reaffirmation about those principles, those policies,” Christensen said. “It’s not about redefinition of marriage. It’s about reaffirmation, marriage being between a man and a woman and all the things that flow from that.”

The Utah Eagle Forum planned the last-minute rally, and the group’s president, Gayle Ruzicka, said the event attracted several groups who support Amendment 3.

“We are just a coalition of pro-family, pro-life groups, and each one represents our group and their opinion as to why they support traditional marriage,” Ruzicka said.

Davey Stevenson of the Utah Pride Center said those who support same-sex marriage have been advocating as well.

“We’ve had a lot of rallies ourselves on our side of the issue, and we’ve got families there too, we’ve got kids and moms and dads and they love their kids, they love their spouses,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson said he feels the lawyers on their side of the issue are doing an excellent job of representing all of the couples here in Utah and that being against Amendment 3 still means being pro-family to him.

“That’s what we're fighting for,” he said. “We want to see those couples being able to be the families that they already are, just not legally recognized.”

The court is expected to decide the case within two to six months.

“We’ll be waiting for a long time because we know no matter what comes out of the 10th Circuit, we know it will go onto the Supreme Court: It’s a waiting game,” Ruzicka said.

Click here for FOX 13 News’ ongoing coverage of the case.