Mississippi activists vow to challenge marriage ban in court

Mississippi gay rights advocates said Friday that they will file a lawsuit should a proposed amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage pass on Election Day. Jody Renaldo, president of Equality Mississippi, said at a Jackson news conference that while organizations have not sent money to the state to fight the proposal, they are looking at possible litigation to challenge it. Nsombi Lambright, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi, said the constitution should never be used for discrimination. "If this amendment passes, it's going to open the door to discrimination," she said. "It is a silly attempt to continue the state's legacy of hatred and bigotry." Same-sex marriage is the number 1 topic in terms of the number of states addressing it--and perhaps in volatility as well. Proposed state constitutional amendments in Mississippi, Montana, and Oregon would ban same-sex marriage, while proposals in eight other states--Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah--would go further by banning civil unions as well.