In a speech at the White House, President Obama praised the Supreme Court`s decision, saying it came « like lightning » after a series of battles over same-sex marriage. Hodges ended all interstate legal complications related to same-sex marriage, as he ordered states to perform same-sex marriages and recognize same-sex marriages contracted in other states. [13] In the first two decades of the 21st century, same-sex marriage was supported by prominent figures in the civil rights movement, including Coretta Scott King, John Lewis, Julian Bond, and Mildred Loving. [3] In May 2011, national public support for same-sex marriage exceeded 50% for the first time. [4] In May 2012, the NAACP, the leading African-American civil rights organization, declared its support for same-sex marriage and declared it a civil right. [5] In June 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down DOMA for violating the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in the landmark civil rights case United States v. Windsor, leading to federal recognition of same-sex marriage, with federal benefits for married couples associated with either the state of residence or the state in which the marriage was contracted. are connected. In May 2015, national public support for same-sex marriage rose to 60% for the first time.
[6] In June 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in the landmark civil rights case Obergefell v. Hodges that the fundamental right of same-sex couples to marry on the same terms as opposite-sex couples, with all the rights and obligations that entails, is guaranteed by both the Due Process Clause and the Equality Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Given that a similar legal argument applied to government programs and marriage benefits, and that Kennedy appeared to make a similar argument during the argument in April, many court observers had long expected Kennedy to also rule against state bans on same-sex marriage. In 11 years, same-sex marriage rights have expanded from a single state to all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Here`s what led to the Supreme Court`s final decision. The federal government recognizes same-sex marriages that have married in certain states where same-sex marriage has been suspended for short periods between the time a court order allowed those couples to marry and that court order, including Michigan. It also recognized marriages contracted in Utah from Dec. 20, 2013, to Jan.
6, 2014, even though the state did not. In similar circumstances, she never commented on Indiana or Wisconsin marriages, which were contracted in short periods, although she recognized them as soon as the respective states announced it. He had not taken a position on similar marriages in Arkansas until the Obergefell decision to legalize and recognize same-sex marriages in all fifty states. [37] The 2004 Congressional Budget Office study, which assumed « that about 0.6% of adults would enter into same-sex marriage if given the opportunity » (an assumption in which they admitted « significant uncertainty »), estimated that legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States « would slightly improve the household bottom line: by less than $1 billion in each of the next 10 years. This result reflects an increase in net government revenues (higher income taxes due to marriage-related penalties more than offset lower tax revenues due to deferred estate taxes). Marriage recognition would increase government spending on Social Security and health benefits for federal employees, but that increase would be more than offset by lower spending on Medicaid, Medicare and Supplemental Security Income. [145] In 2015, Mexico`s Supreme Court issued a decision that made it much easier for gay and lesbian couples to marry. The decision gave same-sex couples the right to seek a court order against state laws prohibiting same-sex marriage; While it does not technically legalize same-sex partnerships nationwide, it is an important step in that direction. Mexico`s Supreme Court also ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in 2010, saying that same-sex marriages contracted in Mexico City were valid and should be accepted throughout the country (Mexico City legalized same-sex marriage in December 2009). Since 2011, the southern Mexican state of Quintana Roo has also allowed same-sex marriages.
In 2014, the Congress of the northern state of Coahuila approved same-sex marriage, and in 2015, neighboring Chihuahua followed. More recently, marriage rights in the United States have become more extensive as states lifted bans on interracial marriages in the early 20th century. Initially, this shift was largely driven by a shift in public opinion within states, much like the legalization of same-sex marriage today. The last blow to the ban on interracial marriage came in 1967 with Loving v. Virginia, a case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the bans on race relations were unconstitutional. The Supreme Court`s decision to legalize same-sex marriage in states and territories did not legalize same-sex marriage in Native American tribal nations. In the United States, Congress (not the federal courts) has legal authority over Indian reservations. If Congress does not pass same-sex marriage legislation on these reservations, federally recognized Native American tribes have the right to form their own marriage laws. [55] At the time of Obergefell, 25 tribal nations legally recognized same-sex marriage.
Some tribes have passed laws dealing specifically with same-sex relationships, and others stipulate that state law and jurisdiction govern tribal marriages. As of October 2019, same-sex marriage is legally recognized in at least 44 tribal nations. Evidence that the institution of marriage can change is crucial to the marriage equality debate. If the definition of marriage could change in the past to focus on love rather than family arrangements, or to include interracial couples instead of single-family couples, it was considered possible that marriage would change again to allow same-sex unions. In his dissent, Roberts wrote that the court had taken an « extraordinary step » by deciding not to allow states to decide the matter themselves, saying the Constitution did not define marriage. Obergefell traveled from Cincinnati to Washington every week to make sure he would be in court when a decision was announced in his case. The Supreme Court had previously struck down the federal ban on same-sex marriage, declaring it unconstitutional. Friday`s ruling « confirms what millions of people in this country already know in their hearts: Our love is equal, » said lead plaintiff Jim Obergefell, who challenged Ohio`s ban on same-sex marriage.