MONTGOMERY, Alabama (AP) – Voters in Alabama will be given the chance to decide in a referendum whether to ban same-sex marriages after the state Senate’s approval of a proposed constitutional amendment.

The measure, which also would bar Alabama from recognizing same-sex marriages granted by other states, will be placed on Alabama’s primary election ballot in June 2006.

A Massachusetts court last year cleared the way for thousands of same-sex marriages, and some local officials in California, Oregon and New York also allowed same-sex weddings before courts stopped them. Voters in 13 states responded to the trend by approving same-sex marriage bans.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage has passed the House 54-44, but it is not likely to make its way into the Iowa Constitution.

The Senate, tied at 25-25, rejected a similar amendment last year when Republicans held a firm majority.

A constitutional amendment must pass two general assemblies before it can be put before voters. If the proposal were to win approval this year and next, it would go on the ballot in 2008.

Rep. Mary Mascher, D-Iowa City, said those pushing the resolution knew it would not advance.

“This is nothing more than a political debate. We all know that in this chamber. We know this resolution is dead on arrival in the Senate,” she said.

Rep. Danny Carroll, R-Grinnell, floor manager of the bill, said the constitutional amendment is needed to ensure marriage in Iowa will not be changed by a judge. Current law defines marriage as only between a man and a woman.

“There’s one reason to support this constitutional amendment and that is because what is taking place in the courts in this country,” he said. “Yes, we have it on our books, but you and I know in today’s society it is easy to go looking for a court somewhere to overturn a law that you disagree with.”

Rep. Bruce Hunter, D-Des Moines, said the proposed amendment would violate the personal liberty and human rights of gay and lesbian couples.

“This is legislation by fear,” he said. “I trust the judges that oversee our justice system. If a judge oversteps their bounds, we have the checks to bring that judge back into compliance.”

Rep. Vicki Lensing, D-Iowa City, said a constitutional amendment would deny gay and lesbian couples the right to make decisions for a partner in a medical emergency, the right to take leave from work for a serious illness and the right to jointly hold property and pass on assets after death.

“I believe in equal rights. This is an issue of personal freedom. It is about human dignity and it is about fairness,” she said. “I ask this chamber to practice tolerance today.”

The National Conference of State Legislatures said 18 states have constitutional amendments pending that would ban same-sex marriage.

A resolution passed in Kansas and voters will consider the issue April 5. Voters in South Dakota will go to the polls to vote on the issue next year after the Legislature passed a similar resolution.

States that amended their state constitutions in 2004 after voters approved were Utah, Oregon, Oklahoma, Ohio, North Dakota, Montana, Mississippi, Michigan, Kentucky, Georgia, Missouri, Louisiana and Arkansas. The amendments declare marriage is valid only if it is between a man and a woman.

Similar constitutional amendments in Idaho, Virginia and Maryland died in the legislatures, the NCSL said.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – A Senate committee heard testimony in favor of expanding the state’s anti-discrimination laws to cover gays and lesbians, but one opponent called the measure “the policy of hell.”

Kansas law already bans discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations based on race, color, religion, gender, ancestry, national origin or disability. The bill would add sexual orientation to the list.

The Federal and State Affairs Committee’s hearing came only three weeks before an April 5 election on a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution. The amendment would ban same-sex marriage and declare that only traditional unions of one man and one woman are entitled to the “rights and incidents” associated with marriage.

Steve Brown, of Prairie Village, said gays and lesbians are reluctant to report discrimination, knowing state law doesn’t prohibit it.

“Kansas needs to send a message that it does not allow its citizens to be victims of discrimination based solely on their sexual orientation,” said Brown, president of the Kansas Democratic Party’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Caucus.

Testifying against the measure were four members of Topeka’s Westboro Baptist Church, which is known for its anti-gay picketing.

Shirley Phelps-Roper called homosexuality “a monstrous sin,” adding, “Your new policy will be the policy of hell and his majesty, the devil.”

The committee took no action on the measure. Chair Pete Brungardt, R-Salina, said he did not know when he will bring the bill up for a vote.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) – A group of elected officials opposed to same-sex marriage cannot become defendants in a lawsuit filed by nine couples who want the state’s ban on same-sex marriage lifted, the state’s highest court ruled.

The decision, issued by the Maryland Court of Appeals a day after it heard arguments and with no opinion detailing its reasoning, returns the lawsuit to Baltimore City Circuit Court, where the same-sex couples in July sued five court clerks who refused them marriage licenses. The court gave no details explaining its action.

Eight legislators and another clerk asked to become defendants represented not by the Attorney General’s Office, which was defending the state law and the clerks who were sued, but by private attorneys.

“They were interjecting their views for the sole purpose of delaying this case. This case involves important issues that no matter which side of the controversy you are on should be decided promptly,” said Andrew H. Baida, one of the couples’ attorneys. Their lawsuit is backed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation.

Calling the fast and favorable ruling “humane,” Lisa Polyak of Baltimore, who sued with her partner, told The (Baltimore) Sun, “Every day that we wait is another day we have to pay double health insurance and that I have to worry of creating odd legal constructs for us.”

NEW YORK (AP) – A state appeals court struck down a law barring the city from doing business with companies that provide benefits for employees’ spouses but not for their same-sex partners.

The state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division in a 5-0 ruling declared the equal benefits law illegal because it “expressly excludes a class of potential bidders for a reason unrelated to the quality or price of the goods or services they offer.”

The judges also said the law “intrudes” on a federal law providing for the administration of uniform national employee benefit plans.

The city’s equal benefits law required companies with city contracts worth $100,000 or more to provide health, family and bereavement benefits to domestic partners, gay or straight.

After the city council passed the legislation in May, Mayor Michael Bloomberg vetoed it. The city council overrode his veto, and the Bloomberg administration sued.

State Supreme Court Justice Faviola Soto sided with the city council in December; the mayor appealed and the Appellate Division reversed her decision.

The city council will appeal, Councilmember Christine Quinn said, adding she was disappointed the mayor was continuing “this wrongheaded appeal.”

City law department attorney June Buch disagreed.

“Ensuring equal benefits to all New Yorkers, regardless of sexual orientation, is the administration’s deeply held belief,” she said in a statement. “The City Council passing invalid legislation isn’t the way to achieve this goal.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Gay rights activists scored a major victory when the Children and Family Affairs Committee voted down a bill banning gays and lesbians from adopting children.

The bill, which was defeated 11-9, had been watered down in a House subcommittee to remove references to gays and lesbians and to instead give preference to heterosexual, married couples over singles.

But the committee decided to vote on the original bill and not include the amendment.

Bill sponsor Rep. Chris Clem said he expected a battle from the House, where Democrats hold a majority.

“That’s the way it’s going to be in the House of Representatives when you have the leadership that runs this House,” said Clem, R-Lookout Mountain. “Even when you have a bill that would easily get 70 percent of the votes on the House floor, if the leadership doesn’t want it passed, they won’t even let it come up for a vote.”

Teri Sogol, a social worker with Jewish Family Service in Nashville, said she’s pleased with the outcome.

“It was the right way to go,” she said. “Banning gays and lesbians from adoption is really doing a disservice to the children in state custody and it’s also discriminatory.”

ATLANTA (AP) – Private clubs that ban gays and lesbians from membership would get extra legal protection under a bill approved by the state Senate.

The plan, which already passed in the House, is aimed at a fight in Atlanta between the city government and Druid Hills Golf Club.

The club does not extend the same benefits to the partners of gay and lesbian members that it does to the spouses of married members. Two members of the club appealed to the city, and Mayor Shirley Franklin said the club should be fined $500 a day for the policy, although that fine has not been collected.

The golf club is private, but its facility is regularly used for public events like weddings and parties.

The club, in turn, is suing the city.

The case caught the attention of some Republican lawmakers in the Legislature, who drew up the bill saying such private clubs can’t be fined by governments.

“This is not state government interfering in local government,” said Sen. John Wiles, R-Marietta, the plan’s Senate sponsor. “This is state government simply enforcing its policies and enforcing the constitution of the state of Georgia.”

Some Democrats argued the bill is simply an effort by Republicans to score political points by bashing gays.

“In 2005 the idea we would use division to appeal to the worst in us – use division to achieve and maintain political power – seems worse than what happened in a prior generation,” said Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta.

The plan passed 37-11. It now goes to Gov. Sonny Perdue to be signed.