Gay Marriage by State [Updated July 2023]

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE BY STATE [UPDATED JULY 2023]
• WHAT IS THE STATE OF GAY MARRIAGE THE US?
• GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY MARRIAGE STATE BY STATE: FROM A FEW STAT TO THE WHOLE NATN
• FACTBOX: LIST OF STAT THAT LEGALIZED GAY MARRIAGE
• WHICH STAT ALLOW GAY MARRIAGE?
• STAT ACROSS U.S. STILL CLG TO OUTDATED GAY MARRIAGE BANS

GAY MARRIAGE BY STATE [UPDATED JULY 2023]

Dpe this, not all stat are abidg and have enacted nstutnal or statutory bans on gay marriage known as “Defense of Marriage” acts. In a landmark cisn, the ne jtic of the US Supreme Court led that the US Constutn guarante marriage as a right for all, cludg gay and lbian upl. Wrg for the urt, Jtice Kennedy said gay and lbian upl have a fundamental right to marry: “no unn is more profound than marriage, for embodi the hight ials of love, fily, votn, sacrifice, and fay, ” he wrote.

It also requir stat and the feral ernment to rpect gay marriag the stat where is the seven years sce the Obergefell cisn, same-sex marriag have bee more mon, but the chang have differed by has the number of same-sex marriag changed over time?

WHAT IS THE STATE OF GAY MARRIAGE THE US?

In the years after Massachetts beme the first state to legally regnize same-sex marriage 2004, gay marriage legalizatn efforts picked up other 2011, there were around 168, 000 married same-sex upl the US. Clayton County "After marriage equaly passed the Supreme Court 2015, the next big victory was the lg that prohibed employment discrimatn agast gay and transgenr employe 2020, " explas Meyer. Of urse, we would love to see all trac of homophobia and transphobia extguished om the Earth but that may be too tall an orr for 5 years!

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. 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.

GAY MARRIAGE

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.

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.

GAY MARRIAGE STATE BY STATE: FROM A FEW STAT TO THE WHOLE NATN

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. 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.

FACTBOX: LIST OF STAT THAT LEGALIZED GAY MARRIAGE

Over the last two years, the number of stat thorizg gay marriage had expand rapidly bee of legislative cisns, referendums or urt orrs. In others – most recently Alabama – ’s been state or feral judg forcg the toehold long sought by gay rights advot and bterly ntted by those who argue marriage is an stutn rerved solely for one man and one woman.

The state’s nstutnal ban on gay marriage, passed 2004, was stck down twice last year – once by a state urt judge and aga by a U. Comparg that evolutn to society's views of gays and lbians, Kennedy noted that for years, "a tthful claratn by same-sex upl of what was their hearts had to rema unspoken. Together, they volve a dozen upl who challenged same-sex marriage bans Oh, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennsee — the only stat wh bans on marriage between gay and lbian upl that had been staed by a feral appeals urt.

WHICH STAT ALLOW GAY MARRIAGE?

Before Friday's lg, gay marriage had already been ma legal 37 stat and the District of Columbia — by eher legislative or voter actn or by feral urts that overturned state' bans. As NPR's Na Totenberg reported when the Supreme Court heard the current se back April, nservative jtic had poted qutns for the attorneys: "Jtice Slia asked whether misters would be able to refe to marry two gay men. The urt noted the change thkg, statg: "Well to the 20th century, many Stat nmned same-sex timacy as immoral, and homosexualy was treated as an illns.

Qutns about the legal treatment of gays and lbians soon reached the urts, where they uld be discsed the formal disurse of the law. If the past week is any ditn, gay marriage is g to a state near you — and Monday, Oregon beme the 18th state to allow same-sex marriag.

STAT ACROSS U.S. STILL CLG TO OUTDATED GAY MARRIAGE BANS

The next day, platiffs Montana filed the first challenge to the ban on gay marriage there, and the day after that, the same thg happened South Dakota — leavg North Dakota as the lone state wh a ban that hasn't been challenged.

"There really is not another issue out there that has gaed so much support so fast, " said Charl Jough, natnal prs secretary for Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights anizatn that works for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr equal gas marriage equaly have been a victory for not jt gay upl, but for their sce Ben Wt and Pl Rummell of Portland, Ore., started fosterg an 8-year-old named Jay 2012, the ltle boy who had been passed om foster home to foster home had one qutn: "When am I gog to have a forever fay? "The lg brought validy to [Jay's] forever fay, that we as a society regnize his fay is important and that we're takg on the rponsibily to raise this child that didn't get the right start at life and we're makg sure that he has every opportuny to grow and be a wonrful, healthy person, " the 35-year-old Wt said, chokg Wt and Rummell met 2006, they've seen a huge change attus toward gay rights.

Gay marriage is allowed, and the public perceptnBis Oregon and Pennsylvania, the stat allow gay marriage: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Illois, Mae, Maryland, Massachetts, Mnota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexi, New York, Rho Island, Vermont, and other stat allow civil unns or domtic partnerships for same-sex upl: Colorado, Nevada and trend toward gay marriage has picked up steam. A Washgton Post-ABC News poll March found that 59 percent of Amerins support gay and lbians beg allowed to legally marry. Meanwhile, judg 11 stat have issued lgs favor of same-sex marriage, but many of those lgs have been stayed as they proceed to appellate urts: Judg have stck down gay marriage bans Arkansas, Idaho, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Virgia.