Lawsuit seeks to throw out Georgia gay marriage ban

<p>As promised, gay-rights supporters filed a lawsuit Tuesday over a same-sex marriage ban voted into the Georgia constitution last week.</p><p>They say the amendment should be thrown out because of misleading language. Voters were asked only if they wanted to define marriage as between a man and a woman, not whether they wanted to ban civil unions. The measure passed 3-to-1 last Tuesday, winning with huge margins among almost every demographic.</p><p>In the Fulton County lawsuit, the gay-rights supporters call the amendment "fatally flawed" and said the language on the ballot "had the effect of unfairly attempting to influence voters." The plaintiffs include two Democratic state legislators and a University of Georgia law professor.</p><p>The group of gay-rights supporters also tried unsuccessfully to block the amendment vote, on the same grounds that it was misleading. The state Supreme Court ultimately decided it could not intervene until after a vote was taken.</p><p>The lawsuit names Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue as defendant. Monday, at a caucus meeting for Republican members of the state House, members of the GOP promised to fight the lawsuit.</p><p>"We will take all actions necessary to defend the decision of the people and will not look kindly upon any tampering with our state constitution," said Rep. Glenn Richardson, R-Dallas.</p><p>Georgia was one of 11 states, and four Southern states, that approved a same-sex marriage amendment last week. Already a lawsuit has been filed in Oklahoma, one of the states that approved the amendment.</p><p>Perdue's office did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.</p><p>On of the lawmakers suing, Democratic Sen. David Adelman of Atlanta, said voters were misled by the amendment.</p><p>"I know that I have voters in my district who support civil unions but not gay marriage," Adelman said. "People shouldn't be required to vote against something they favor in order to vote for something they disfavor."</p><p>One of the plaintiffs, Saint John's Missionary Baptist Church in coastal Brunswick, Ga., argued that its members were put in a bind by the amendment.</p><p>"Members have differing views on the issue of marriage for same-sex couples, but most or all are in favor of civil unions," the lawsuit reads. Those voters "were unable to cast a vote ... consistent with both beliefs."</p><p>The lawsuit will be argued by the Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal, a gay-rights law advocacy group.</p><p>The director of Georgia's ACLU, Debbie Seagraves, said she expected to prevail and force the Legislature to revisit the gay-marriage amendment.</p><p>"The Georgia constitution is quite clear that only one subject can be there," she said.</p><p>The Georgia lawsuit is similar to one filed successfully in Louisiana, which approved a gay-marriage amendment in September. Citing the multiple-subject rule, a state judge threw out that amendment in October. That decision is currently being appealed.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/11/157224