It went further than similar bans in many states in that it also barred same-sex couples from many legal protections afforded to heterosexual couples. For example, the partners of gays and lesbians who work for the state are not entitled health insurance and other benefits.
New York-based Lambda and the Lesbian and Gay Project of the American Civil Liberties Union in Nebraska filed suit, arguing that the ban violated gay rights.
The court, however, ruled that the amendment ``and other laws limiting the state-recognized institution of marriage to heterosexual couples are rationally related to legitimate state interests and therefore do not violate the Constitution of the United States."
In Tennessee, the state Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the ACLU that contended that the state failed to meet its own notification requirements for a ballot measure asking voters to ban gay marriage. The high court ruled unanimously yesterday that the ACLU didn't have standing to file the suit.
Tennessee had a law banning gay marriage, but lawmakers who supported the proposed amendment said they wanted a backup in case the law was overturned.
Similar steps have been taken in many of the other 44 states that have barred same-sex marriage through statute or constitutional amendment.
Only Massachusetts allows gay marriage, acquired through a ruling by the state's Supreme Judicial Court. Vermont and Connecticut allow same-sex civil unions that confer the same legal rights as heterosexual married couples.
But some Massachusetts lawmakers are trying to ban gay marriage, and the SJC ruled this week that legislative efforts to put a gay marriage ban on the state's 2008 ballot could move forward.
The top courts in two other states also dealt setbacks to gay-rights advocates last week: The New York Court of Appeals rejected a bid by same-sex couples to win marriage rights, and the Georgia Supreme Court reinstated a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage there.
