Same-Sex Marriage Now Legal in 13 States and DC

Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota Allow Same-Sex Marriage

Rhode Island became the tenth state to recognize gay marriage with the May 2, 2013 passage of a same-sex marriage bill, effective on August 1, 2013.

The Delaware Senate voted to legalize gay marriage on May 7, 2013. The law took effect in Delaware on July 1, 2013.

The Minnesota State Senate voted 37-30 on May 13, 2013 to legalize same-sex marriage, effective August 1, 2013.

With polls showing that a majority of Americans now support same-sex marriage, other states are likely to follow suit. In Illinois, the state senate passed a marriage equality bill; if it passes in the House, it will go to Governor Pat Quinn, who has already promised to sign it. In 2014, Oregonians may vote to overturn a 2004 constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage.

Same-Sex Marriages Resume in California

On June 26, 2013 (the same day the DOMA decision was issued), the U.S. Supreme Court delivered another much-anticipated marriage equality ruling in the California Prop. 8 case, Hollingsworth v. Perry. The Supreme Court (or SCOTUS) dismissed the Perry case on a legal technicality. The court declined to determine the proposition's constitutionality and instead ruled that Prop. 8 supporters (private citizens) lacked “standing” to appeal the lower court’s decision regarding the gay marriage ban.

A Little Background

In August 2010, United States District Court Judge Vaughn Walker (a federal judge) overturned Prop. 8 (the voter-approved ban on gay marriage) ruling that the ballot measure violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Judge Walker issued a statewide injunction against enforcement of Prop. 8, but also issued a stay (delay) of his own order pending appeal.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Judge Walker’s decision and kept the stay in place pending the Supreme Court's review.

What Did SCOTUS Really Decide: What is Legal Standing?

The Supreme Court dismissed the Perry case because it ruled that the proponents of Prop. 8 did not have “legal standing” to appeal the case when state officials, including the governor, refused to defend the law. Lack of standing means that the Prop. 8 supporters could not show they suffered a sufficient harm from the lower court’s decision to support their participation in the case.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said that the Prop. 8 supporters had no “personal stake” in defending it, at least no more than other ordinary citizens of California. “It is not enough,” Roberts wrote, “that the party invoking the power of the court have a keen interest in the issue.” SCOTUS sent the case back to the Ninth Circuit.

The June 26 decision cleared the path for same-sex marriages to resume in California, but they could not take place until the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the stay of the lower court’s order. The Ninth Circuit surprised everyone by dissolving the stay only two days after the court's decision. Once that happened, California Governor Jerry Brown directed all court officials and clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples immediately. County clerks and registrar offices across California are adding staff and officiants to handle the wave of same-sex marriages that began on July 1, 2013.

If you're in a same-sex couple and were married during the five-month period of time in 2008 when same-sex marriage was legal in California, your marriage is still valid. If you are in a registered domestic partnership, this ruling has no effect on your relationship status. Domestic partnership registrations are different from marriage licenses. The California Secretary of State’s Office will continue to process domestic partnership registrations and notices of termination of domestic partnerships.

Effective date: July 02, 2013