DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Polk County attorney’s office has filed a response to legal documents opposing the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

The county attorney calls the “friend of the court” brief – filed by gay and lesbian groups as well as lawmakers from Massachusetts – “less of a legal brief and more of postscript of inadmissible hearsay anecdotal remarks.”

The brief was filed in support of New York-based Lambda Legal, which filed a 2005 lawsuit that resulted in a Polk County ruling that Iowa’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional. The group filed its suit on behalf of six gay and lesbian couples from Iowa who were denied marriage licenses, as well as three of the couples’ children.

The lawsuit names former Polk County recorder and registrar Timothy Brien.

In its filing on April 17, the county attorney’s office argues that the “friend of the court” brief is based on news accounts after a decision in a Massachusetts same-sex marriage case.

“The brief is a collection of opinions without foundation and against which defendant cannot offer counter opinion in the time permitted ... not to mention available resources,” the county attorney’s office stated.

It said the Massachusetts decision has not been widely supported and that the dispute “has been a political football.” Polk County officials have maintained that the decision on same-sex marriage should be left to legislators, not the courts.

Camilla Taylor, Lambda Legal’s lead attorney on the Iowa case, defended the brief.

“The brief from leaders in Massachusetts is relevant because it shows that gay couples have been marrying there for four years and the sky hasn’t fallen,” she said in a written statement. “This issue ceases to be controversial once gay couples can marry – just like no-fault divorce and interracial marriage are no longer controversial.”

In all, there were 15 “friend of the court” briefs filed in support of Lambda Legal.

Officials with the Polk County attorney’s office said the arguments in those other briefs will be addressed later in their response to the plaintiff’s arguments.

The Iowa lawsuit prompted a ruling last August by Polk County District Court Judge Robert Hanson, who said the state law allowing marriage only between a man and a woman violates the constitutional rights of due process and equal protection.

The next day, Hanson stayed the decision, and the case is now before the Iowa Supreme Court.

Oral arguments will be scheduled by the Supreme Court in coming months, but a decision this year is unlikely.