The legislature passed Alabama Act 2005-35, which placed this amendment on the election ballot.

As a matter of public policy, this state has a special interest in encouraging, supporting, and protecting this unique relationship in order to promote, among other goals, the stability and welfare of society and its children.

(c) Marriage is a sacred covenant, solemnized between a man and a woman, which, when the legal capacity and consent of both parties is present, establishes their relationship as husband and wife, and which is recognized by the state as a civil contract.

(f) The State of Alabama shall not recognize as valid any common law marriage of parties of the same sex.

[7][8] On January 23, 2015, Chief Judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama Callie V. Granade issued a ruling striking down Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage as violations of the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantees of equal protection and due process.