Al Gerhardstein, a Cincinnati civil rights attorney who filed challenges to Ohio's ban that are now before the Supreme Court, compared the state's position to those of the 16 states where interracial marriage was still illegal in 1967. An Ohio State University legal expert says that the cultural and judicial landscape has changed dramatically since November 2004, when Ohio voters were among those in 11 states passing same-sex marriage bans. Polls have shown growing acceptance among Americans of same-sex marriage, and same-sex marriage advocates won a long series of court victories before the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S.