MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont attorney general says the state has joined New York and Connecticut in asking a federal appeals court to rule the federal law that fails to recognize gay marriage as unconstitutional.

Attorney General William H. Sorrell said in a statement Friday that the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman, has deprived same-sex couples of federal benefits and unfairly discriminates against them.

He said the three states filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case pending in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.

The states argue that they, not the federal government, regulate marriage and family relationships and that Congress hasn’t the authority to refuse recognition of gay marriage and essentially "unmarry" couples.