Current state of gay marriage in the us
The Journey to Marriage Equality in the Joined States
The road to nationwide marriage equality was a long one, spanning decades of United States history and culminating in victory in June 2015. Throughout the long clash for marriage equality, HRC was at the forefront.
Volunteer with HRC
From gathering supporters in small towns across the country to rallying in front of the Supreme Court of the United States, we gave our all to confirm every person, regardless of whom they love, is recognized equally under the law.
A Growing Call for Equality
Efforts to legalize homosexual marriage began to pop up across the state in the 1990s, and with it challenges on the state and national levels. Civil unions for same-sex couples existed in many states but created a separate but identical standard. At the federal level, couples were denied access to more than 1,100 federal rights and responsibilities associated with the institution, as well as those denied by their given state. The Defense of Marriage Act was signed into law in 1996 and defined marriage by the federal government as between a male and woman, thereby allowing states to deny marriage equality.
New Century &
Republican state lawmakers galvanize to attack same-sex marriage
Republicans in red states across the US have been pushing a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ measures targeting same-sex marriages with an aim of ultimately securing a supreme court ban on the federally protected right.
The recent wave of Republican-led bills targeting same-sex marriage comes amid a second Donald Trump presidency in which his administration has taken on more emboldened attacks against LGBTQ+ communities across the country, as seen through a flurry of executive orders he signed, assailing various LGBTQ+ rights.
Numerous Republican lawmakers across red states have followed suit in both rhetoric and the introduction of bills, sparking concerns across Gay and civil rights organizations over their social and political effects.
In Oklahoma in January, a day after Trump’s inauguration, the Republican state senator Dusty Deevers introduced a series of bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights, among them the Promote Child Thriving act.
The Promote Child Thriving act establishes a $500 tax credit per child for a mother and father filing jointly and is escalated to $1,000 if the child was born after the marriage of the paren
Same-sex marriage, which the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 legalized nationwide in the case known as Obergefell v. Hodges, is facing resurgent hostility.
In the decade since the court’s decision, universal support for lgbtq+ marriage has increased. Currently, about 70% ofAmericans approve of legally recognizing the marriages of homosexual couples, a 10-percentage-point bump from 2015.
Obergefell led to an increase in marriages among same-sex partners, with more than 700,000 same-sex couples currently married.
Despite this, Republican lawmakers in five states hold recently introduced symbolic bills calling on the Supreme Court to overturn its ruling in Obergefell.
And Republican lawmakers in two states have proposed legislation that creates a new category of marriage, called “covenant marriage,” that is reserved for one man and one woman.
As a professor of legal studies, I think such attacks on same-sex marriage stand for a serious threat to the institution.
And others share my concern.
A 2024 poll of married homosexual couples found that 54% of respondents are worried that the Supreme Court might overturn Obergefell, with only 17% saying they did not anticipate such a challe
MAP Report: The National Patchwork of Marriage Laws Underneath Obergefell
MEDIA CONTACT:
Rebecca Farmer, Movement Advancement Project
rebecca@lgbtmap.org | 303-578-4600 ext 122
As the Respect for Marriage Act moves through Congress, MAP’s March 2022 report on the landscape of varying state marriage laws around the country is a resource. MAP researchers are available to reply questions and our infographics are obtainable for use.
MAP’s report, Underneath Obergefell, explores the patchwork of marriage laws around the country. The inform highlights the reality that a majority of states still have existing laws on the books that would disallow marriage for homosexual couples – even though those laws are currently unenforceable under the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell.
If the U.S. Supreme Court were to revisit the Obergefell conclusion, the ability of same-sex couples to marry could again fall to the states, where a majority of states still have in place both bans in the statute and in declare constitutions.
The policy landscape for articulate marriage laws can be broken into four major categ
Some Republican lawmakers increase calls against gay marriage SCOTUS ruling
Conservative legislators are increasingly speaking out against the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 ruling on same-sex marriage equality.
Idaho legislators began the trend in January when the state House and Senate passed a resolution calling on the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision -- which the court cannot do unless presented with a case on the issue. Some Republican lawmakers in at least four other states like Michigan, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota have followed suit with calls to the Supreme Court.
In North Dakota, the resolution passed the express House with a vote of 52-40 and is headed to the Senate. In South Dakota, the state’s House Judiciary Committee sent the proposal on the 41st Legislative Night –deferring the bill to the final day of a legislative session, when it will no longer be considered, and effectively killing the bill.
In Montana and Michigan, the bills have yet to confront legislative scrutiny.
Resolutions have no legal authority and are not binding law, but instead allow legislative bodies to express their collective opinions.
The resolutions in four other states ech
Republican state lawmakers galvanize to attack same-sex marriage
Republicans in red states across the US have been pushing a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ measures targeting same-sex marriages with an aim of ultimately securing a supreme court ban on the federally protected right.
The recent wave of Republican-led bills targeting same-sex marriage comes amid a second Donald Trump presidency in which his administration has taken on more emboldened attacks against LGBTQ+ communities across the country, as seen through a flurry of executive orders he signed, assailing various LGBTQ+ rights.
Numerous Republican lawmakers across red states have followed suit in both rhetoric and the introduction of bills, sparking concerns across Gay and civil rights organizations over their social and political effects.
In Oklahoma in January, a day after Trump’s inauguration, the Republican state senator Dusty Deevers introduced a series of bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights, among them the Promote Child Thriving act.
The Promote Child Thriving act establishes a $500 tax credit per child for a mother and father filing jointly and is escalated to $1,000 if the child was born after the marriage of the paren
Same-sex marriage, which the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 legalized nationwide in the case known as Obergefell v. Hodges, is facing resurgent hostility.
In the decade since the court’s decision, universal support for lgbtq+ marriage has increased. Currently, about 70% ofAmericans approve of legally recognizing the marriages of homosexual couples, a 10-percentage-point bump from 2015.
Obergefell led to an increase in marriages among same-sex partners, with more than 700,000 same-sex couples currently married.
Despite this, Republican lawmakers in five states hold recently introduced symbolic bills calling on the Supreme Court to overturn its ruling in Obergefell.
And Republican lawmakers in two states have proposed legislation that creates a new category of marriage, called “covenant marriage,” that is reserved for one man and one woman.
As a professor of legal studies, I think such attacks on same-sex marriage stand for a serious threat to the institution.
And others share my concern.
A 2024 poll of married homosexual couples found that 54% of respondents are worried that the Supreme Court might overturn Obergefell, with only 17% saying they did not anticipate such a challe
MAP Report: The National Patchwork of Marriage Laws Underneath Obergefell
Rebecca Farmer, Movement Advancement Project
rebecca@lgbtmap.org | 303-578-4600 ext 122
As the Respect for Marriage Act moves through Congress, MAP’s March 2022 report on the landscape of varying state marriage laws around the country is a resource. MAP researchers are available to reply questions and our infographics are obtainable for use.
MAP’s report, Underneath Obergefell, explores the patchwork of marriage laws around the country. The inform highlights the reality that a majority of states still have existing laws on the books that would disallow marriage for homosexual couples – even though those laws are currently unenforceable under the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell.
If the U.S. Supreme Court were to revisit the Obergefell conclusion, the ability of same-sex couples to marry could again fall to the states, where a majority of states still have in place both bans in the statute and in declare constitutions.
The policy landscape for articulate marriage laws can be broken into four major categ
Some Republican lawmakers increase calls against gay marriage SCOTUS ruling
Conservative legislators are increasingly speaking out against the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 ruling on same-sex marriage equality.
Idaho legislators began the trend in January when the state House and Senate passed a resolution calling on the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision -- which the court cannot do unless presented with a case on the issue. Some Republican lawmakers in at least four other states like Michigan, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota have followed suit with calls to the Supreme Court.
In North Dakota, the resolution passed the express House with a vote of 52-40 and is headed to the Senate. In South Dakota, the state’s House Judiciary Committee sent the proposal on the 41st Legislative Night –deferring the bill to the final day of a legislative session, when it will no longer be considered, and effectively killing the bill.
In Montana and Michigan, the bills have yet to confront legislative scrutiny.
Resolutions have no legal authority and are not binding law, but instead allow legislative bodies to express their collective opinions.
The resolutions in four other states ech