Nonprofit says SC gay marriage ban hurts kids

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A children’s rights group says South Carolina’s same-sex marriage ban is harmful to children with gay parents.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Children’s Rights says in court papers filed this week that children of gay couples thrive like any kids in two-parent homes but are discriminated against by South Carolina’s law.

The nonprofit advocacy group filed its papers Wednesday in one of the lawsuits challenging South Carolina’s ban on gay marriage. In that case, a lesbian couple legally married in Washington, D.C., wants South Carolina to recognize their marriage. The couple has three children.

Other lawsuits ask state officials to let couples married in other states legally change their names here. In another case, a Charleston couple wants a federal judge to allow them to get a marriage license there.

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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP