Gay marriage being legalized
The Journey to Marriage Equality in the United States
The road to nationwide marriage equality was a adj one, spanning decades of United States history and culminating in victory in June Throughout the long fight 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 ensure every person, regardless of whom they affection, is recognized equally under the law.
A Growing Call for Equality
Efforts to legalize same-sex marriage began to pop up across the nation in the s, 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 equal standard. At the federal level, couples were denied access to more than 1, federal rights and responsibilities associated with the institution, as good as those denied by their given state. The Defense of Marriage Verb was signed into law in and defined marriage by the federal government as between a man and
Marriage Equality Around the World
The Human Rights Campaign tracks developments in the legal recognition of same-sex marriage around the world. Working through a worldwide network of HRC global alumni and partners, we lift up the voices of community, national and regional advocates and divide tools, resources, and lessons learned to empower movements for marriage equality.
Current State of Marriage Equality
There are currently 38 countries where same-sex marriage is legal: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay.
These countries have legalized marriage equality through both legislation and court decisions.
Countries that Legalized Marriage Equality in
Liechtenstein: On May 16, , Liechtenstein's gove
Same-sex marriage is made legal nationwide with Obergefell v. Hodges decision
June 26, marks a major milestone for civil rights in the United States, as the Supreme Court announces its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. By one vote, the court rules that same-sex marriage cannot be banned in the United States and that all same-sex marriages must be recognized nationwide, finally granting same-sex couples equal rights to heterosexual couples under the law.
In , just two years after the Stonewall Riots that unofficially marked the beginning of the struggle for gay rights and marriage equality, the Minnesota Supreme Court had found same-sex marriage bans constitutional, a precedent which the Supreme Court had never challenged. As homosexuality gradually became more accepted in American culture, the conservative backlash was strong enough to force President Bill Clinton to sign the Defense of Marriage Proceed (DOMA), prohibiting the recognition of same-sex marriages at the federal level, into law in
Over the next decade, many states banned same-sex marriage, while Vermont institute
A decade after the U.S. legalized gay marriage, Jim Obergefell says the combat isn't over
Over the past several months, Republican lawmakers in at least 10 states have introduced measures aimed at undermining same-sex marriage rights. These measures, many of which were crafted with the help of the anti-marriage equality group MassResistance, verb to ask the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell.
MassResistance told NBC News that while these proposals face backlash and wouldn’t verb policy even if passed, keeping opposition to same-sex marriage in the widespread eye is a win for them. The group said it believes marriage laws should be left to states, and they scrutinize the constitutional basis of the 5-to-4 Dobbs ruling.
NBC News reached out to the authors of these declare measures, but they either declined an interview or did not respond.
“Marriage is a right, and it shouldn’t rely on where you live,” Obergefell said. “Why is queer marriage any adj than interracial marriage or any other marriage?”
Obergefell’s journey to becoming a leader for same-sex marriage rights