LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Arkansas voters have approved a measure banning unmarried couples who are living together from being adoptive or foster parents. The vote imposes a ban that the Legislature balked at authorizing.

More than 56 percent of voters supported the ban, said by its proponents to be aimed primarily at keeping gays from becoming foster or adoptive parents. The measure’s sponsor, the Arkansas Family Council, tried to paint it as a battle against a “gay agenda.”

Opponents argued it would make it harder for the state to find the foster parents it needs to take care of children.

The measure grew out of a 2006 Arkansas Supreme Court decision that struck down a state policy banning gay foster parents. A push to enact a ban similar to the ballot measure during the last legislative session failed.