Supreme Court rejects same sex couple's adoption bid

WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court turned down a gay couple's request Tuesday to have both of their names listed as the parents of an adopted boy.

The nine justices rejected without comment the appeal by Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith, backing a federal appeals court ruling earlier this year.

That decision found a Louisiana registrar's decision not to list both men on the child's birth certificate did not violate his right to equal protection under the law and did not deny legal recognition of the adoption that took place in New York.

Adopted children can obtain new birth certificates with their adopted parents' names on them in Louisiana, but the state only recognizes adoptions by married couples. Adar and Smith were not married at the time of the adoption.

The case, watched closely by gay rights advocates, did not address whether same-sex couples have a legal right to adopt.