Maryland?s Court of Appeals today declared that marriage must be between a man and a woman, reversing a Baltimore City Circuit Court ruling that said such prohibitions are unconstitutional.

In their ruling, judges said the state?s interest in “fostering procreation” and “encouraging the traditional family structure” is a legitimate governmental interest. The ruling comes after court clerks in Baltimore and elsewhere in the state denied the marriage licenses of nine same-sex couples in 2004.