A federal lawsuit has been filed against Georgia’s ban on same-sex marriage.
A federal lawsuit has been filed in Georgia on behalf go three same-sex couples and a widow who are challenging the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
One of the plaintiffs, Christopher Innis, made a statement about the lawsuit. “Georgia is our home. Our family is here, our business is here, and our community here is a great support for us,” he said. “Shelton and I have been together for 13 years. We own a home together, we own a business together, and we are raising our son, Jonathan, together. We have done everything we can to protect and take responsibility for our family but marriage is the only way to ensure that we are treated as the family that we are. We need the protection that marriage affords.”
Tara Borelli is an Senior Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta, the firm that is representing the case. “Every day that same-sex couples in Georgia are denied the freedom to marry, the government sends a message that their families are not worthy of dignity and respect,” Borelli stated. “Georgians believe in the Southern values of love, honor and family, but as long as the State of Georgia continues to bar same-sex couples from marriage, it devalues these families and reinforces unfairness and discrimination.”
Senior Attorney Beth Littrell shares Borelli’s views. “Georgia joins a growing chorus of Southern voices clamoring for marriage equality. The freedom to marry is indeed coming south. We do not want a country divided by unfairness and discrimination. Same-sex couples are in loving, committed relationships in every region of our nation and should be treated the same way, whether they live in the Empire State or the Peach State,” she stated.
Photo: Wikipedia
