O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 19-3-3.1 (2019)

Marriages between persons of same sex prohibited; marriages not recognized

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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(a) It is declared to be the public policy of this state to recognize the union only of man and woman. Marriages between persons of the same sex are prohibited in this state. (b) No marriage between persons of the same sex shall be recognized as entitled to the benefits of marriage. Any marriage entered into by persons of the same sex pursuant to a marriage license issued by another state or foreign jurisdiction or otherwise shall be void in this state. Any contractual rights granted by virtue of such license shall be unenforceable in the courts of this state and the courts of this state shall have no jurisdiction whatsoever under any circumstances to grant a divorce or separate maintenance with respect to such marriage or otherwise to consider or rule on any of the parties’ respective rights arising as a result of or in connection with such marriage.

History

Code 1981, § 19-3-3.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 1025, § 1.

Annotations

Law reviews. For review of 1996 domestic relations legislation, see 13 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 137 (1996). For article, “To Say ‘I Do’: Shahar v. Bowers, Same-Sex Marriage, and Public

Employee Free Speech Rights,” see 15 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 381 (1998). For article on proposed constitutional amendment on gay marriage, see 21 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 14 (2004). For comment on adoptions by homosexuals, see 55 Mercer L. Rev. 1415 (2004). For note, “Status or Contract? A Com-

parative Analysis of Inheritance Rights under Equitable Adoption and Domestic Partnership Doctrines,” see 39 Ga. L. Rev. 675 (2005). For article, “A Holy Secular Institution,” see 58 Emory L.J. 1123 (2009). For comment, “By the Power Vested in Me? Licensing Religious Officials to Solemnize Marriage in the Age of Same-Sex Marriage,” see 63 Emory L.J. 979 (2014).

For article, “Speech or Conduct? The Free Speech Claim of Wedding Vendors,” see 65 Emory L.J. 241 (2015). For article, “The Odd Couple: How Justices Kennedy and Scalia, Together, Advanced Gay Rights in Romer v. Evans,” see 67 Mercer L. Rev. 305 (2016).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Employment denied due to lesbian marriage. - Attorney General, that is, the State of Georgia’s interest, as an employer in promoting the efficiency of the Attorney General’s important public service outweighed the plaintiff’s personal

associational interests in a lesbian marriage. Shahar v. Bowers, 114 F.3d 1097, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 13069 (11th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1049, 118 S. Ct. 693, 139 L. Ed. 2d 638, 1998 U.S. LEXIS 83 (1998).

RESEARCH REFERENCES ALR. Marriage between persons of the same sex, 81 A.L.R.5th 1.

Marriage between persons of same sex - United States and Canadian cases, 1 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 1.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 14 cases, 1995–2017 · leading case: Robin Joy Shahar v. Michael J. Bowers, Individually & in His Off. Capacity as Attorney Gen. of the State of Georgia, 114 F.3d 1097 (11th Cir. 1997).
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Robin Joy Shahar v. Michael J. Bowers, Individually & in His Off. Capacity as Attorney Gen. of the State of Georgia, 114 F.3d 1097 (11th Cir. 1997). · cites it 4× “The Attorney General’s sense that Georgia’s people, in general, are set against equating in some way a relationship between persons of the same sex with traditional marriage seems to have been corroborated by O.C.G.A. § 19-3-3.1 (prohibiting same-sex marriage) and by 1 U.”
Windsor v. United States, 699 F.3d 169 (2d Cir. 2012). · cites it 2× “1, § 4, I; Ga. Code Ann. § 19-3-3.1 ; Haw. Const. Art.”
Godfrey v. Spano, 920 N.E.2d 328 (NY 2009). “Ga Code Ann § 19-3-3.1 [b] [declaring void" (a)ny marriage entered into by persons of the same sex pursuant to a marriage license issued by another state or foreign jurisdiction"])—New York has not, and the Legislature has enacted no other law expressly forbidding the…”
Lathem v. Hestley, 514 S.E.2d 440 (Ga. 1999). · cites it 4× “" Any such alleged status, however, is not the basis for Lathem's asserted interest. Rather, Lathem claims an interest based on an implied constructive trust.”
Wheeler v. Wheeler, 642 S.E.2d 103 (Ga. 2007). · cites it 4× “Under OCGA§§ 19-8-5 (a) and 19-8-7 (a), a third party who is not a stepparent, such as Melody Wheeler, may adopt the child only if the parent’s rights are surrendered, or are terminated pursuant to OCGA § 19-8-10.”
Butler v. Lee, 783 S.E.2d 704 (Ga. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 2× “See OCGA § 19-3-3.1 (2011) (prohibiting and not recognizing marriages between persons of the same sex); but see Obergefell v.”
Bloom v. Camp, 785 S.E.2d 573 (Ga. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 2× “See OCGA § 19-3-3.1 (2009) (“It is declared to be the public policy of this state to recognize the union only of man and woman.”
Burns v. Burns, 560 S.E.2d 47 (Ga. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 4× “OCGA § 19-3-3.1 (a) clearly states that it is the public policy of Georgia “to recognize the union only of man and woman.”
Bates v. Bates, 730 S.E.2d 482 (Ga. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 2× “But “[m]arriages between persons of the same sex are prohibited in this state,” OCGA § 19-3-3.1 (a), and so Tina cannot claim that her adoption of the child was a *342 stepparent adoption.”
Bourke v. Beshear, 996 F. Supp. 2d 542 (W.D. Ky. 2014). “2Í2 (West 2013); Ga. Code Ann. § 19-3-3.1 (West 2013); Haw.”
Inniss v. Aderhold, 80 F. Supp. 3d 1335 (N.D. Ga. 2015). · cites it 12× “Georgia’s Marriage Laws In 1996, the state legislature in Georgia enacted O.C.G.A. § 19-3-3.1 to prohibit same-sex marriages in Georgia, and to prevent the recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other States or foreign countries.”
Jack Pidgeon & Larry Hicks v. Mayor Sylvester Turner & City of Houston, 538 S.W.3d 73 (2017). “212 (1997); Ga. Code § 19-3-3.1 (1996); Haw. Rev. Stat.”
Show all 14 citing cases →
— 19-3-3.1(a) — 1 case
Wheeler v. Wheeler, 642 S.E.2d 103 (Ga. 2007). “Under OCGA§§ 19-8-5 (a) and 19-8-7 (a), a third party who is not a stepparent, such as Melody Wheeler, may adopt the child only if the parent’s rights are surrendered, or are terminated pursuant to OCGA § 19-8-10.”
— 19-3-3.1(b) — 2 cases
Robin Joy Shahar v. Michael J. Bowers, Individually & in His Off. Capacity as Attorney Gen. of the State of Georgia, 114 F.3d 1097 (11th Cir. 1997). “The Attorney General’s sense that Georgia’s people, in general, are set against equating in some way a relationship between persons of the same sex with traditional marriage seems to have been corroborated by O.C.G.A. § 19-3-3.1 (prohibiting same-sex marriage) and by 1 U.”
Shahar v. Bowers, 70 F.3d 1218 (11th Cir. 1995).
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