Bama fights back

Alabama voters overwhelmingly approved a statewide constitutional amendment Tuesday [6/6] banning gay marriage...Reports from 84 percent of the precincts showed 81 percent of voters wanted the ban...

Political observers said the measure is largely symbolic, since Alabama already has a law that defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman.

But proponents of the amendment, such as the Christian Coalition, said the ban would be a backstop in case the state law were challenged in court.

"Judicial activism has put us in the posture of making pre-emptive strikes to build a fire wall around the state of Alabama," said John Giles, president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama.

by Anna Velasco, staff writer BIRMINGHAM NEWS link