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The availability of legally recognized same-sex marriage in the United States expanded from one state (Massachusetts) in 2004 to all fifty states in 2015 through various court rulings,state legislation,and direct popular votes. States each have separate marriage laws,which must adhere to rulings by the Supreme Court of the United States that recognize marriage as a fundamental right guaranteed by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,as first established in the 1967 landmark civil rights case of Loving v. Virginia.
Many laws in the history of the United States have addressed marriage and the rights of married people. Common themes addressed by these laws include polygamy,interracial marriage,divorce,and same-sex marriage.
Constitutional Amendment 3 of 2004,is an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution that makes it unconstitutional for the state to recognize or perform same-sex marriages or civil unions. The referendum was approved by 75% of the voters.
Michigan Proposal 04-2 of 2004,is an amendment to the Michigan Constitution that made it unconstitutional for the state to recognize or perform same-sex marriages or civil unions. The referendum was approved by 59% of the voters. The amendment faced multiple legal challenges and was finally overturned in Obergefell v. Hodges by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Arkansas Proposed Initiative Act No. 1 (2008) is an initiated state statute that was approved on November 4,2008,election in Arkansas. This measure makes it illegal for any individuals cohabiting outside of a valid marriage to adopt or provide foster care to minors. While the measure was proposed primarily to prohibit same-sex couples from being adoptive or foster parents,this measure also applies to all otherwise qualified couples who are not legally married.
Same-sex marriage in Louisiana has been legal since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26,2015. The court held that the denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples is unconstitutional,invalidating Louisiana's ban on same-sex marriage. The ruling clarified conflicting court rulings on whether state officials are obligated to license same-sex marriages. Governor Bobby Jindal confirmed on June 28 that Louisiana would comply with the ruling once the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed its decision in a Louisiana case,which the Fifth Circuit did on July 1. Jindal then said the state would not comply with the ruling until the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana reversed its judgment,which it did on July 2. All parishes now issue marriage licenses in accordance with federal law.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of Arkansas may face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Arkansas. Same-sex marriage became briefly legal through a court ruling on May 9,2014,subject to court stays and appeals. In June 2015,the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that laws banning same-sex marriage are unconstitutional,legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States nationwide including in Arkansas. Nonetheless,discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity was not banned in Arkansas until the Supreme Court banned it nationwide in Bostock v. Clayton County,Georgia in 2020.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of South Carolina may face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in South Carolina. Same-sex couples and families headed by same-sex couples are eligible for all of the protections available to opposite-sex married couples. However,discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is not banned statewide.
Until 2017,laws related to LGBTQ+ couples adopting children varied by state. Some states granted full adoption rights to same-sex couples,while others banned same-sex adoption or only allowed one partner in a same-sex relationship to adopt the biological child of the other. Despite these rulings,same-sex couples and members of the LGBTQ+ community still face discrimination when attempting to foster children.
This article contains a timeline of significant events regarding same-sex marriage in the United States. On June 26,2015,the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges effectively ended restrictions on same-sex marriage in the United States.
DeBoer v. Snyder is a lawsuit that was filed by April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse on January 23,2012 in federal district court,challenging Michigan's ban on adoption by same-sex couples so they can jointly adopt their children. In August 2012,Judge Bernard A. Friedman invited the couple to amend their suit to challenge the state's ban on same-sex marriage,"the underlying issue". Following a hearing on October 16,2013,Friedman scheduled a trial that ran from February 25 to March 7,2014. On March 21,Judge Friedman issued his ruling overturning the ban. On March 22,the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit placed a temporary hold on Judge Friedman's ruling. The appeal was argued on August 6. On November 6,the Sixth Circuit reversed Judge Friedman and upheld Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2014.
Tanco v. Haslam was the lead case in the dispute of same-sex marriage in Tennessee. A U.S. District Court granted a preliminary injunction requiring the state to recognize the marriages of the plaintiffs,three same-sex couples. The court found the equal protection analysis used in Bourke v. Beshear,a case dealing with a comparable Kentucky statute "especially persuasive." On April 25,2014,that injunction was stayed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Tanco was appealed to the Sixth Circuit,which reversed the district court and upheld Tennessee's refusal to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions on November 6.
Same-sex marriage in Mississippi has been legal since June 26,2015. On November 25,2014,U.S. District Court Judge Carlton W. Reeves of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi ruled that Mississippi's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Enforcement of his ruling was stayed pending appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. On June 26,2015,the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples is unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution. On June 29,Attorney General Jim Hood ordered clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. On July 1,the Fifth Circuit lifted its stay and Judge Reeves ordered an end to Mississippi's enforcement of its same-sex marriage ban. However,until July 2,2015,several counties in Mississippi continued to refuse to issue marriage licenses,including DeSoto,Jasper,Jones,Newton,Pontotoc,Simpson and Yalobusha.
Same-sex marriage in Arkansas has been legal since the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26,2015,in which the court struck down same-sex marriage bans nationwide. Prior to this,same-sex marriage in Arkansas was briefly legal for a period beginning on May 9,2014,as a result of a ruling by Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge Chris Piazza striking down the state's constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage as violating the U.S. Constitution. Approximately 541 same-sex couples received marriage licenses in several counties before the Arkansas Supreme Court stayed his ruling pending appeal on May 16,2014.
Wright v. Arkansas is a same-sex marriage case pending before the Arkansas Supreme Court. An Arkansas Circuit Court judge ruled the Arkansas Constitution's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional on May 9,2014. He clarified his opinion to include state statutes that interfered with allowing or recognizing same-sex marriage as well. The state Supreme Court issued a stay in the case on May 16,2014,but approximately 450 same-sex marriage licenses were issued before the stay went into effect.
Obergefell v. Hodges,576 U.S. 644 (2015),is a landmark case of the Supreme Court of the United States which ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. The 5–4 ruling requires all fifty states,the District of Columbia,and the Insular Areas to perform and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples on the same terms and conditions as the marriages of opposite-sex couples,with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities. Prior to Obergefell,same-sex marriage had already been established by statute,court ruling,or voter initiative in thirty-six states,the District of Columbia,and Guam.
In the United States,the history of same-sex marriage dates from the early 1940s,when the first lawsuits seeking legal recognition of same-sex relationships brought the question of civil marriage rights and benefits for same-sex couples to public attention though they proved unsuccessful. However marriage wasn't a request for the LGBTQ movement until the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Washington (1987). The subject became increasingly prominent in U.S. politics following the 1993 Hawaii Supreme Court decision in Baehr v. Miike that suggested the possibility that the state's prohibition might be unconstitutional. That decision was met by actions at both the federal and state level to restrict marriage to male-female couples,notably the enactment at the federal level of the Defense of Marriage Act.
On April 28,2015,the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments for Obergefell v. Hodges (Ohio),which was consolidated with three other same-sex marriage cases from the other states in the Sixth Circuit:Tanco v. Haslam (Tennessee),DeBoer v. Snyder (Michigan),Bourke v. Beshear (Kentucky). On June 26,2015 the Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Circuit's decision,paving the way for same-sex marriage to become legal in those states,and setting a precedent for the entire nation. All four states complied with the ruling the same day it was issued before the mandate was actually issued. Every state in the circuit had a district court ruling against their states' ban,but they were eventually stayed pending appeal. The Sixth Circuit consists of Kentucky,Michigan,Ohio,and Tennessee. On August 6,2014,the Sixth Circuit heard oral arguments for same-sex marriage cases from each state within the circuit. On November 6,2014,the Sixth Circuit in a split 2-1 decision,upheld the states' same-sex marriage bans,reversing the district courts' rulings that struck them down. The Sixth Circuit was the first and only circuit court since the landmark ruling United States v. Windsor to uphold the constitutionality of states' same-sex marriage bans which caused a circuit split.
Arkansas Department of Human Services v. Cole is a case decided by the Arkansas Supreme Court concerning the adoption rights of unmarried couples. On April 7,2011,the Arkansas Supreme Court unanimously struck down Arkansas Act 1,passed by voters two and a half years earlier.
References
- 1 2 Daniels, C. & Hughes, J. (2009). The Historical Report of the Arkansas Secretary of State 2008. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press., 2008
- 1 2 3 Arkansas Secretary of State, "Candidate Information: Chris Piazza," accessed April 7, 2014
- ↑ "Arkansas judge strikes down state ban on same-sex marriage". Reuters. May 9, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
- ↑ Judge overturns state's adoption law
- ↑ "State Supreme Court strikes down adoption ban". Archived from the original on March 11, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- 1 2 3 "1976-1990 Arkansas Historical Election Results". scribd.com. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- ↑ "Archives". Los Angeles Times .