Gay marriage states legal

CNN Not too long ago, the question was what states would be among the first to allow same-sex marriages. Photos: Same-sex marriage in the U. Carlos McKnight of Washington waves a flag in support of same-sex marriage outside the U. Supreme Court on June 26, The Supreme Court ruled that states cannot ban same-sex marriage, handing gay rights advocates their biggest victory yet.

Hodges making same-sex marriage the law of the land, most states still have outdated laws on their books like the ones Virginia just repealed. Indiana is one of those states, though an attempt to remove its gay marriage ban was unsuccessful last month in the Republican-controlled state Legislature. In fact, GOP opposition to its removal derailed legislation seeking to raise the legal age to marry in the state from 15 to Only a male may marry a female. Matt Pierce, a Democrat, said in defense of the amendment. Apparently to the Republican caucus it is controversial. Professor Jason Pierceson.

The history of same-sex marriage in the United States dates from the early s, 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. 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. The first legal same-sex marriage ceremony in the United States happened on February 12, , when the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, ordered city hall to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. This decision resulted in the celebration of the first gay marriage in the United States, when Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon became the first gay couple to tie the knot and get official recognition of their fifty year relationship Marriage Equality New York.

As recently as a half-century ago, the idea that same-sex marriage would be legal anywhere in the United States was crazy talk. As we near the end of , however, same-sex couples have the freedom to marry in over half of U. As detailed by Michael J. Klarman in one of the most comprehensive same-sex marriage articles to date, the fight for marriage equality was led by the LGBT community on the heels of the AIDS epidemic in the late s. At that time, many homosexual couples began finding themselves facing complicated legal questions from hospital visitation rights to inheritance rights, which acted as a spark to begin the freedom to marry debate.