When the U.S. Supreme Court rules on same-sex marriage in the coming days, it likely will decide the status of unions that now have the support of a majority of the country.

Public opinion has shifted sharply in favor of gay marriage in just the past five years. But, in some areas of Georgia, not much has changed since voters overwhelmingly approved a ban on gay marriage more than a decade ago.

In Schley County, near Americus, about 91 percent of voters endorsed a ban in the state Constitution that is still in effect today.

David Theiss, who chairs the county’s Republican Party, doubts that many have altered their opinion.

“I haven’t seen God change the Bible yet,” said Theiss, who is also mayor of Ellaville, “and he’s the one who created marriage between Adam and Eve.”

Supreme Court justices are expected to determine the status of same-sex marriage throughout the country when they rule in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges.

Gay marriage is now legal in most of the country. Georgia remains one of a handful where gay and lesbian couples cannot marry.

While the general public has warmed to gay marriage – a Pew Research Center survey found 57 percent of Americans favor it, up from 42 percent five years ago – religious Americans remain opposed.

That isn’t likely to change, regardless of how the high court rules this month, says Charles S. Bullock III, a political science professor at the University of Georgia.

“If you believe the Bible tells you it’s a sin, the fact that a court comes along and says it isn’t a sin is not going to change your mind,” Bullock said. “In your hierarchy, the Bible is going to come ahead of everything else.”

That’s certainly the case in Echols County, where about 91 percent of voters approved the ban in 2004.

Rep. John Corbett, R-Lake Park, said scripture alone is what shapes public sentiment there.

“If that vote was taken again today, I think you would get the same results,” he said.

Bullock said that’s likely true in all of the counties where voters passed the ban in convincing fashion – and there were many.

Statewide, 76 percent of voters supported the Constitutional amendment. The measure passed with more than 90 percent approval in two-dozen rural counties.

The most enthusiastic audience came in Pierce County, where the ban passed with nearly 94 percent of the vote.

Nearly half of the counties where the amendment found the most success form a cluster near Pierce County, in the southeast corner of the state.

Should the Supreme Court rule that gay and lesbian couples have a right to marry under the U.S. Constitution, Georgia’s probate judges will be required to issue marriage licenses – regardless of any lingering public opposition, said Chase Daughtrey, probate judge for Cook County.

However, the judges aren’t required to perform a ceremony, Daughtrey said, adding that most do not.

“Whether or not a judge decides to perform a ceremony, it’s their discretion under the law,” said Daughtrey, who is past president of the state’s Council of Probate Court Judges. “But the license, itself – the law is pretty clear that we shall issue that.”

A gender-neutral form that swaps blanks for “bride” and “groom” with “applicant one” and “applicant two” will be immediately sent to judges following a ruling in favor of gay marriage.

Refusing to approve applications for a same-sex couple will come with ramifications, potentially including action from the state’s Judicial Qualifications Commission, said Daughtrey.

No probate court judges – at this point – have indicated that they plan to deny applications from same-sex couples, he said.

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.