U.S. Senate Hopeful Expresses Support for Suit Challenging Georgia's Gay Marriage Ban

Art Gardner, one of seven Republicans running for retiring Senator Saxby Chambliss's U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, announced his support for Lambda Legal's suit to overturn Georgia's ban on gay marriage, ComDig News reports:

“I support marriage equality and I call on liberty-minded Republicans to join me in supporting this suit,” Gardner wrote in a press release. “I also call on Attorney General Sam Olens, a fellow Republican, to not fight the suit, but to allow the plaintiffs to obtain a favorable judgment directly.”

So far, Olens seems to be ignoring such calls. His spokeswoman stated on Tuesday: “The Attorney General will fulfill his constitutional obligation to defend Georgia law.” Olens will defend the ban in federal court in his capacity as the state’s chief law enforcement officer.

Gardner’s robust support of marriage equality stretches back over twenty years, when he implemented policies in a local classic car club to allow gays to join freely.

ComDig adds:

The three congressmen vying for retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ seat—Reps. Jack Kingston, Phil Gingrey, and Paul Broun—business titan David Perdue, and former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel have each professed their support for traditional family values in the marriage arena, playing on the strong Christian dynamic at work in the state electorate.