--- description: Lambda Legal has filed a lawsuit in federal court to overturn the state's same-sex marriage ban, passed in a constitutional amendment in 2004, which also prohibits the recognition of unions performed in other states title: Georgia’s Gay Marriage Ban Challenged in Federal Court image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Courts](/tag/courts/) ## Courts Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Federal Suit Filed to Overturn Georgia’s Gay Marriage Ban  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 22, 2014 3:33 PM CUT  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 22, 2014 3:33 PM CUT A gay rights group in Georgia filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday seeking to overturn the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. The suit, filed in Atlanta by Lambda Legal, seeks to [vacate](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/suit-challenging-ga-gay-marriage-ban-be-filed "undefined") the voter-approved constitutional amendment passed in 2004 that bans same sex marriage in Georgia. The amendment, which bans same-sex marriage in Georgia and prohibits the state from recognizing such unions performed in other states, won overwhelming support on the ballot that year. The state Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in 2006. The Georgia lawsuit leaves only four states with bans on gay marriage that remain unchallenged, [according to the Washington _Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/04/10/only-5-states-have-gay-marriage-bans-that-arent-being-challenged/ "undefined"): Alaska, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. The suit is filed on behalf of seven individuals and seeks class action status, the Associated Press reports. \[[AP](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/suit-challenging-ga-gay-marriage-ban-be-filed "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/71968/georgia-gay-marriage-ban/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/71968/georgia-gay-marriage-ban/"},"headline":"Federal Suit Filed to Overturn Georgia’s Gay Marriage Ban","datePublished":"2014-04-22T15:33:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:25:56.691Z","description":"Lambda Legal has filed a lawsuit in federal court to overturn the state's same-sex marriage ban, passed in a constitutional amendment in 2004, which also prohibits the recognition of unions performed in other states","url":"https://time.com/71968/georgia-gay-marriage-ban/","keywords":["Courts","Gay Marriage","georgia","atlanta","same sex marriage"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/courts/","name":"Courts"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/71968/georgia-gay-marriage-ban/","name":"Federal Suit Filed to Overturn Georgia’s Gay Marriage Ban"}}]}] ```