Group Presses Gay-Marriage Challenges

A legal advocacy group is pressing three New York lawsuits that seek to bar recognition of gay marriages performed elsewhere.

The Alliance Defense Fund represents New Yorkers in the cases who object to their government paying benefits to the same-sex spouses of public employees, the New York Sun reports.

The Alliance has lost in the lower courts in all three cases, but it is seeking a different result on appeal. At least four separate lawsuits have been brought on behalf of same-sex couples seeking divorces or employment benefits.

The Alliance is also involved in a new effort to provoke a challenge to a federal law that bars tax-exempt churches from endorsing political candidates.