Where Europe stands on gay marriage and civil unns | Pew Rearch Center

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE BY STATE [UPDATED JULY 2023]
• WHAT IS THE STATE OF GAY MARRIAGE THE US?
• STAT WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL (INFOGRAPHIC)
• GAY MARRIAGE
• COUNTRI WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL 2023
• GAY MARRIAGE CLARED LEGAL ACROSS THE US HISTORIC SUPREME URT LG
• WHERE EUROPE STANDS ON GAY MARRIAGE AND CIVIL UNNS
• HERE ARE THE STAT WHERE GAY COUPL CAN GET MARRIED
• HISTORY OF GAY MARRIAGE
• STAT ACROSS U.S. STILL CLG TO OUTDATED GAY MARRIAGE BANS

GAY MARRIAGE BY STATE [UPDATED JULY 2023]

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?

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.

The first lawsus volvg same-sex marriage, also lled gay marriage, started the 1970s, brgg the qutn of civil marriage rights for same-sex upl to public attentn.

WHAT IS THE STATE OF GAY MARRIAGE THE US?

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. 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.

STAT WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL (INFOGRAPHIC)

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. 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.

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. 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.

Not every untry the world is volved the nversatn surroundg gay marriage, but a large percentage of the world’s natns have eher legalized same-sex marriage, permted gay marriage certa parts of the untry, allows civil unns between dividuals of the same sex, or actively rtricts gay marriage. However, a uple of untri have not pletely legalized gay marriage all throughout the natn, wh same-sex upl only beg able to get married certa areas of said untri. The number of untri that have not legalized gay marriage outweighs the number of untri that do, which uld take a turn the oppose directn as natns progrs over time.

COUNTRI WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL 2023

Rsia is an example of a natn that do not necsarily crimalize same-sex upl, but the ernment plac ser rtrictns on people who are gay, which is still a way of censorg relatnships that are not heterosexual. Sce the first same-sex marriag took place the Netherlands 2001, more than 30 other jurisdictns have enacted laws allowg gays and lbians to marry, mostly Europe and the Ameris.

GAY MARRIAGE CLARED LEGAL ACROSS THE US HISTORIC SUPREME URT LG

Netherlands2001EuropeFirst untry to legalize same-sex marriage after Parliament passed the law December Zealand 2013Asia-PacificFirst untry the Asia-Pacific regn to allow gays and lbians to 2009EuropeThe law replaced a 1993 statute permtg civil unns.

Slovenia 2022EuropeFirst untry formerly munist Eastern Europe to legalize same-sex Ai 2006Sub-Saharan AiOnly Ain untry where same-sex marriage is legal; several untri on the ntent have passed laws that ban homosexualy recent 2005EuropeBeme the third untry globally to legalize same-sex marriage after a vote s closely divid 2009EuropeGay and lbian upl Swen prevly had been allowed to register for civil unns sce 1995. 1%) st ballots favor of legalizg same-sex marriage a 2021 2019Asia-PacificA urt lg prompted a change the law that ma Taiwan the first jurisdictn Asia to perm gays and lbians to Kgdom 2014EuropeLegal same-sex marriage took effect Northern Ireland 2020, six years after the change England and Wal. Supreme Court agreed to review a number of feral appeals urt cisns on same-sex marriage: one strikg down part of the feral Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which f marriage as a unn between a man and a woman, and another validatg California’s Proposn 8, a ballot measure passed 2008 that amend the state’s nstutn to ban gay marriage.

Between the pol, a fierce battle is takg place ptg those who hope all gays and lbians, regardls of where they live, will soon have the right to marry agast those who believe that same-sex marriage is helpg to unrme heterosexual marriage, which they see as the foundatn of healthy fai. Circu Court of Appeals gave same-sex marriage supporters a big w when upheld a lower urt lg that a California referendum banng gay marriage (Proposn 8) was unnstutnal. One of the natn’s largt and most important stat, New York, legalized same-sex marriage June 2011 and, as noted above, three addnal stat – Mae, Maryland and Washgton – legalized gay marriage 2012.

WHERE EUROPE STANDS ON GAY MARRIAGE AND CIVIL UNNS

And May 2012, voters North Carola approved an amendment to the state’s nstutn banng gay marriage, makg North Carola the 30th state to have such lims wrten to s nstutn. Most supporters of same-sex marriage ntend that gay and lbian upl should be treated no differently than their heterosexual unterparts and that they should be able to marry like anyone else. Allowg gay and lbian upl to wed, they ntend, will radilly refe marriage and further weaken at a time when the stutn is already ser trouble due to high divorce rat and a signifint and growg number of out-of-wedlock births.

HERE ARE THE STAT WHERE GAY COUPL CAN GET MARRIED

1 Moreover, many predict that givg gay upl the right to marry will ultimately lead to grantg people polygamo and other nontradnal relatnships the right to marry as well. While all laws legalizg same-sex marriage nta some nscience protectns allowg church and other relig groups to refe to marry gay and lbian upl, the legal ground is murkier for religly affiliated anizatns, such as hospals, schools and other social-service provirs, that may not want to grant benefs to the spoe of an employee a same-sex marriage or provi adoptn and other servic to a gay or lbian uple that are routely provid to heterosexual upl. The Catholic Church, the Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats and many evangelil Christian groups, such as the Southern Baptist Conventn, have played a leadg role public opposn to gay marriage.

Ined, the ordatn and marriage of gay persons has been a growg wedge between the socially liberal and nservative wgs of the Epispal, Lutheran and Prbyterian church, leadg some nservative ngregatns – and even whole dc – to break away om their natnal church as they bee more open to gay clergy and gay marriage. Gay and lbian Amerins have been llg for the right to marry, or at least to create more formalized relatnships, sce the 1960s, but same-sex marriage has only emerged as a natnal issue wh the last 20 years.

HISTORY OF GAY MARRIAGE

The spark that started the bate occurred Hawaii 1993, when the Hawaii Supreme Court led that an existg law banng same-sex marriage would be unnstutnal unls the state ernment uld show that had a pellg reason for discrimatg agast gay and lbian upl.

Even though this cisn did not immediately lead to the legalizatn of gay marriage that state (the se was sent back to a lower urt for further nsiratn and Hawaiian voters ultimately approved a referendum leavg the issue the hands of the state’s legislature), did spark a natnwi backlash.

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

The followg year, the legislature approved a bill grantg gay and lbian upl the right to form civil unns, which grant most of the legal rights of marriage but not the tle. But the issue was sudnly tapulted back to the headl November 2003, when the hight state urt Massachetts led that the state’s nstutn guaranteed gay and lbian upl the right to marry.