Metro Atlanta court begins marrying gay couples

ATLANTA (AP) A court in Atlanta started marrying gay couples Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Georgia's ban on same-sex marriage.

Three gay couples received marriage licenses Friday morning, Fulton County Probate Court Clerk James Brock said. One of those couples, Petrina Bloodworth and Emma Foulkes, were married in a ceremony Friday morning. They were the first gay couple to be married in Fulton County.

Georgia was one of 14 states that banned gay marriage. Friday's ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court means Georgia will have to stop enforcing its ban.

Here's a look at the history of Georgia's gay marriage ban, reactions to the high court ruling and what's next:

HISTORY OF GEORGIA'S GAY MARRIAGE BAN

Georgia voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on gay marriage in 2004. Gay rights groups filed lawsuits in state court challenging the wording of the ballot question, but the state Supreme Court ultimately ruled the vote was valid in 2006. The state constitution prohibits same-sex marriage and says that Georgia will recognize only the union of a man and a woman as marriage and that same-sex marriages performed in others states are not legally recognized.

CHALLENGE TO GEORGIA'S GAY MARRIAGE BAN

Gay rights group Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit in April 2014 challenging Georgia's constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. The suit, filed on behalf of six couples and a widow, challenges the ban itself, rather than the ballot wording that was previously challenged. ``The history of the United States has been defined by the ability of each succeeding generation to recognize that social, economic, political, religious, and historical norms do not define our unalienable rights,'' the lawsuit said.


REACTION FROM STATE

Attorney General Sam Olens, a Republican who defended Georgia's gay marriage ban, quickly instructed government agencies to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

``Once the Supreme Court has ruled, its order is the law of the land,'' Olens said in a statement. ``As such, Georgia will follow the law and adhere to the ruling of the court.''