Gay Marriage by State [Updated July 2023]

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE BY STATE [UPDATED JULY 2023]
• WHAT IS THE STATE OF GAY MARRIAGE THE US?
• STATE-BY-STATE HISTORY OF BANNG AND LEGALIZG GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL ALL 50 STAT: SUPREME COURT
• HERE ARE THE STAT WHERE GAY COUPL CAN GET MARRIED

GAY MARRIAGE BY STATE [UPDATED JULY 2023]

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. Gay marriage was the predomant "culture war" issue of Gee W.

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. 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 Mnota.Clerk Gerald Nelson rejected their applitn bee they were a same-sex uple, and a trial urt upheld his cisn.

Supreme Court 1972 cled to hear the se “for want of a substantial feral qutn.” 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 legal.In 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.

WHAT IS THE STATE OF GAY MARRIAGE THE US?

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.Marriage Equaly: Turng the Ti In the late 1980s and early 1990s, same-sex upl saw the first signs of hope on the marriage ont a long time. 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 benefs.Three years later, the District of Columbia siarly passed a new law that allowed same-sex upl to register as domtic partners. Ernment.Then, 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 legal.The 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 su.As 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 years.The 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 law.DOMA 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 thgs.The act was a huge setback for the marriage equaly movement, but transient good news arose three months later: Hawaii Judge Kev S.

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

In 1998, voters approved a nstutnal amendment banng same-sex marriage the state.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 marriage.Three 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, 2004.Later that year, the U.S. Bh—that would outlaw gay marriage across the untry.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 marriage.But 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 issue.The 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 California.The 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 2012.Same-sex marriage also beme a feral issue aga.In 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 2015.By 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.

GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL ALL 50 STAT: SUPREME COURT

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. Gay and lbian upl now have the right to marry, jt like anyone else.

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.

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. He said, but that uld happen — uld happen that a mister would be forced to marry two gay men, vlatn of his beliefs.

HERE ARE THE STAT WHERE GAY COUPL CAN GET MARRIED

"Jtice Alo asked, well then why not marry four gay men together?