After s-long legal battle, gay uple's 1971 marriage officially regnized

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE
• MY RGSI SEAT ON THE : 'SOMEONE HAD TO BE THE FIRST GAY UPLE TO MARRY'
• BOOK TELLS THE LOVE STORY BEHD AMERI’S FIRST GAY MARRIAGE
• ONE OF N.L.'S FIRST MARRIED GAY UPL LOOK BACK WH PRI
• AFTER S-LONG LEGAL BATTLE, GAY UPLE'S 1971 MARRIAGE OFFICIALLY REGNIZED
• HERE ARE SOME OF THE FIRST GAY COUPL MARRY AFTER SUPREME COURT DECISN
• GAY RIGHTS

GAY MARRIAGE

"We jt wanted to make sure that the world saw the most posive si of beg a gay uple.

Early Years: Same-Sex Marriage Bans In 1970, jt one year after the historic Stonewall Rts that galvanized the gay rights movement, law stunt Richard Baker and librarian Jam McConnell applied for a marriage license Gerald Nelson rejected their applitn bee they were a same-sex uple, and a trial urt upheld his cisn. ” This lg effectively blocked feral urts om lg on same-sex marriage for s, leavg the cisn solely the hands of stat, which alt blow after blow to those hopg to see gay marriage beg 1973, for stance, Maryland beme the first state to create a law that explicly f marriage as a unn between a man and woman, a belief held by many nservative relig groups.

MY RGSI SEAT ON THE : 'SOMEONE HAD TO BE THE FIRST GAY UPLE TO MARRY'

Though the gay rights movement saw some advancements the 1970s and 1980s—such as Harvey Milk beg the first openly gay man elected to public office the untry 1977—the fight for gay marriage ma ltle headway for many years.

In 1989, the San Francis Board of Supervisors passed an ordance that allowed homosexual upl and unmarried heterosexual upl to register for domtic partnerships, which granted hospal visatn rights and other years later, the District of Columbia siarly passed a new law that allowed same-sex upl to register as domtic partners.

C., 1993, the hight urt Hawaii led that a ban on same-sex marriage may vlate that state nstutn’s Equal Protectn Clse—the first time a state urt has ever ched toward makg gay marriage Hawaii Supreme Court sent the se—brought by a gay male uple and two lbian upl who were nied marriage licens 1990—back for further review to the lower First Circu Court, which 1991 origally dismissed the the state tried to prove that there was “pellg state tert” jtifyg the ban, the se would be tied up ligatn for the next three Defense of Marriage Act Opponents of gay marriage, however, did not s on their hnch. Congrs 1996 passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which Print Bill Clton signed to didn’t ban gay marriage outright but specified that only heterosexual upl uld be granted feral marriage benefs.

BOOK TELLS THE LOVE STORY BEHD AMERI’S FIRST GAY MARRIAGE

That is, even if a state ma gay marriage legal, same-sex upl still wouldn’t be able to file e tax jotly, sponsor spo for immigratn benefs or receive spoal Social Secury payments, among many other act was a huge setback for the marriage equaly movement, but transient good news arose three months later: Hawaii Judge Kev S. Phg for Change: Civil Unns The next saw a whirlwd of activy on the gay marriage ont, begng wh the year 2000 when Vermont beme the first state to legalize civil unns, a legal stat that provis most of the state-level benefs of years later, Massachetts beme the first state to legalize gay marriage when the Massachetts Supreme Court led that same-sex upl had the right to marry Goodridge v. The state fally troduced the untry to gay marriage (m the feral benefs) when began issug same-sex marriage licens on May 17, that year, the U.

ONE OF N.L.'S FIRST MARRIED GAY UPL LOOK BACK WH PRI

2004 was notable for upl many other stat as well, though for the oppose reason: Ten typilly nservative stat, along wh Oregon, enacted state-level bans on gay marriage. Kansas and Texas were next 2005, and 2006 saw seven more stat passg Constutnal amendments agast gay towards the end of the , gay marriage beme legal var stat, cludg Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont (the first state to approve by legislative means) and New Hampshire.

Domtic Partnerships Throughout the and the begng of the next, California equently ma headl for seawg on the gay marriage state was the first to pass a domtic partnership statute 1999, and legislators tried to pass a same-sex marriage bill 2005 and 2007. Perry legalized same-sex marriage early 2010s ntued the state-level battl over gay marriage that fed the precedg , wh at least one notable event. For the first time the untry’s history, voters (rather than judg or legislators) Mae, Maryland, and Washgton approved Constutnal amendments permtg same-sex marriage marriage also beme a feral issue 2010, Massachetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, found Sectn 3 of DOMA—the part of the 1996 law that fed marriage as a unn between one man and one woman—to be unnstutnal.

AFTER S-LONG LEGAL BATTLE, GAY UPLE'S 1971 MARRIAGE OFFICIALLY REGNIZED

Wdsor, nservative Jtice Anthony Kennedy sid wh Jtic Ruth Bar Gsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan favor of same-sex marriage rights, ultimately makg gay marriage legal across the natn June this time, was still outlawed only 13 stat, and more than 20 other untri had already legalized gay marriage, startg wh the Netherlands December 2000. It had been troduced by Tony Blair 2004; I was always surprised, given the size of his majory, that he didn’t troduce gay marriage stead. Someone had to be the first, or one of the first, gay upl to marry that night and I didn’t want that honour to go to anyone else.

We disvered months later that they had been filmg , and talkg about , the background; ’s one of our happit memori of the mum took them to a nearby hotel to go to bed, and David and I were whisked away by iends a large limo to a gay club Soho that was unr threat of moln. But gay marriage has brought a greater societal shift the way we view gay relatnships; the ey of some, has legimised them.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE FIRST GAY COUPL MARRY AFTER SUPREME COURT DECISN

The story of the first gay weddg Ameri is one that enpass the fight for LGBTQ rights, a se before the hight urt the land and a remarkable relatnship.

GAY RIGHTS

For upl of the same sex is documented  The Weddg Heard ’Round the World: Ameri’s First Gay Marriage.

Enjoy an excerpt om The Weddg Heard ’Round the World: Ameri’s First Gay Marriage, by McConnell and Baker, as told to Gail Langer Karwoski. He beme the darlg of the natnal media 1970, the year he was elected the first openly gay universy stunt body print.