Georgia’s Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to take up the Marriage Amendment, a constitutional amendment that would allow same-sex couples to marry in the state.
Instead, the court will hear arguments in the case of two Georgia couples seeking to challenge the law in the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
“It’s an uphill battle,” said Jeff DeWitt, an attorney for the couples, who are challenging the state’s marriage equality law.
“We need to do everything we can to get the case to the Supreme Court, which is why we’re trying to get a stay order from the 4th circuit.”
The 4th court has not yet issued a ruling on the marriage amendment.
It has been on hold since last June.
In that case, the 4 th circuit agreed with a federal appeals court ruling that invalidated Georgia’s same-day marriage ban.
The 4 th Circuit ruled that the ban on same-semester marriages violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause, which bars state officials from “discriminating against any class of persons by means of any law or regulation.”
The plaintiffs in the Georgia case argue that the state has the power to limit same-date marriages because the federal Defense of Marriage Act prohibits states from recognizing same-gender marriages.
The law prohibits federal recognition of marriages between gay and lesbian couples.
The plaintiffs argue that a state law limiting marriage to a man and a woman violates that federal law.
Georgia Attorney General Jim Hood said last year that he was reviewing the Supreme, but he said he has not made any decisions.
“The Supreme Court has not decided whether Georgia should or should not be allowed to issue marriage licenses to same- or opposite-sex partners,” Hood said at the time.
“But the court has already held that the states have a constitutional right to do so.”
The Supreme has been the mainstay of the state Supreme Court for more than a century.
In the last several years, the justices have heard several cases challenging the constitutionality of state bans on same sex marriage, which has caused much confusion.
The justices have been divided over whether the federal ban on federal recognition is unconstitutional.
In 2010, the Supreme justices ruled that states cannot refuse to recognize same- and opposite-gender couples based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In another case, in 2015, the Court of the Appeals for the 4teenth Circuit held that it was not unconstitutional to deny federal recognition to same sex couples.
But the justices rejected an appeal from a county clerk in Georgia who said the law was unconstitutional because it was based on “gender identity.”
