? Lawyers for the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church are seeking to intervene in a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

In a petition filed with the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, attorneys Margie Phelps and Rachel Hockenbarger say that if same-sex marriage is legalized, it “will bring great woe and harm to this state.”

Phelps is a daughter of the late Fred Phelps Sr., who founded the church. It is known for its strident opposition to homosexuality and provocative protests against social tolerance of gays and lesbians. The elder Phelps died March 19.

The church became notorious in the 1990s for protesting at the funerals of AIDS victims and, later, the funerals of soldiers killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Attached to the petition is a lengthy collection of biblical quotes that the attorneys argue support their position.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two lesbian couples, including one in Douglas County, who argue that the Kansas constitutional amendment adopted in 2005 violates the federal constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws.

Earlier this year, 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Kansas, struck down similar bans in Utah and Oklahoma, and the U.S. Supreme Court this month declined to hear appeals of those rulings.

That set the stage for gay rights advocates in Kansas to launch a similar challenge to the Kansas Constitution.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office is defending the state’s ban.

The case has also become an issue in this year’s race for governor. Incumbent Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has said he supports the ban because it was approved by a 70-percent majority of Kansas voters when it was on the ballot. He also has alleged that Democratic challenger Paul Davis would appoint the same type of “liberal judges” that have struck down such bans in other states.

As the Democratic leader of the Kansas House, Davis voted against the resolution that put the amendment on the April 2005 ballot. But he has not spoken out on the issue during the campaign, saying only that it is now a matter for the courts to decide.

The ACLU is seeking a preliminary injunction to bar local court officials from denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples until the case is decided. It has also asked that the case be put on an expedited schedule.

A hearing on that motion had been scheduled for last week but was postponed. As of Monday morning, the hearing had not been rescheduled.