Georgia high
court upholds ban on same-sex marriage, civil unions

On the same day that the New York court of zppeals denied marriage equality to the state's gay and lesbian couples, the Georgia supreme court upheld that state's recently approved constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The unanimous ruling reversed a lower-court decision invalidating the amendment, the Associated Press reports. In the earlier ruling the amendment, put before Georgia voters as a ballot measure in 2004, was found to have violated the state's single-subject rule for such initiatives because both same-sex marriage and civil unions were included. The supreme court disagreed, saying that there was no such violation. Georgians approved the ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions by 76%. (The Advocate)