Georgia

STATUS: Anti-relationship recognition constitutional amendment

TAKE ACTION: State advocacy groups are working toward fairness for all of Georgia's families by overturning a constitutional amendment that prohibits relationship recognition for same-sex couples in the state.

HISTORY: In 2004, anti-gay forces in Georgia pushed through Amendment 1, a constitutional amendment that excludes same-sex couples from marriage and prohibits same-sex couples from attaining any other form of legal family status.

Although a state court ruled that the amendment violated Georgia's single-subject rule for ballot measures, the state Supreme Court, in July 2006, upheld the anti-gay amendment.

GROUPS ACTIVELY WORKING ON MARRIAGE:

Georgia Equality is the political advocacy voice of Georgia's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender citizens and their allies.
MEGA Family Project is a nonpartisan, statewide organization dedicated to providing support, education, and advocacy work on behalf of LGBT families.
Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage for same-sex couples nationwide.
Human Rights Campaign is the United States' largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality.

POLLING DATA: A majority of Georgia residents (57%) say that same-sex couples should be able to either marry or join in civil union. (Public Policy Polling, December 2012)

NUMBER OF SAME-SEX COUPLES: According to The Williams Institute's analysis of the 2010 U.S. Census, 21,318 same-sex couples are living in Georgia, representing 5.9 same-sex couples per 1,000 households.

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