State-by-State History of Banng and Legalizg Gay Marriage

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE BY STATE [UPDATED JULY 2023]
• STATE-BY-STATE HISTORY OF BANNG AND LEGALIZG GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY MARRIAGE
• SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL?
• GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL ALL 50 STAT: SUPREME COURT

GAY MARRIAGE BY STATE [UPDATED JULY 2023]

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. 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.

STATE-BY-STATE HISTORY OF BANNG AND LEGALIZG GAY MARRIAGE

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.

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.

GAY MARRIAGE

By one vote, the urt l that same-sex marriage nnot be banned the Uned Stat and that all same-sex marriag mt be regnized natnwi, fally grantg same-sex upl equal rights to heterosexual upl unr the 1971, jt two years after the Stonewall Rts that unofficially marked the begng of the stggle for gay rights and marriage equaly, the Mnota Supreme Court had found same-sex marriage bans nstutnal, a precent which the Supreme Court had never challenged. As homosexualy gradually beme more accepted Amerin culture, the nservative backlash was strong enough to force Print Bill Clton to sign the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), prohibg the regnn of same-sex marriag at the feral level, to law 1996.

Obergefell origated wh a gay uple, Jim Obergefell and John Arthur, who were married Maryland, where same-sex marriage was legal, but whose marriage was not regnized by Oh thori.

SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL?

3, 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court orred the state’s 68 probate judg to stop issug marriage licens to same-sex upl, spe an earlier feral urt lg that stck down the state’s gay marriage ban, and the US Supreme Court’s cisn to allow same-sex marriag to proceed the state. The Supreme Court effectively halted gay marriag om takg place, however, by notg that while Judge Piazza’s lg had stck down both the nstutnal amendment and the state law, had not affected an addnal state law prohibg unty clerks om issug same-sex marriage licens. On May 15, 2014, Judge Piazza expand his lg to strike down the addnal law and any other measur that ma gay marriage illegal, but on May 16, 2014 the State Supreme Court spend that lg, haltg all gay marriag wh the state.

2, 2015, US District Judge Joseph Bataillon clared Nebraska’s gay marriage ban unnstutnal, scribg as an “unabashedly genr-specific gement of the equal rights of s cizens. 12, 2015, US District Judge Karen Schreier led South Dakota’s gay marriage ban unnstutnal, statg that “Platiffs have a fundamental right to marry… South Dakota law priv them of that right solely bee they are same-sex upl and whout sufficient jtifitn. 19, 2015, two At women were married after state District Judge David Wahlberg orred an exceptn be ma to Texas’ gay marriage ban bee one of the women had been diagnosed wh ovarian ncer.

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 IS LEGAL ALL 50 STAT: SUPREME COURT

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. 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.

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.