112 PART onE • THE AmERiCAn sYsTEm
unions.” The law entitled partners forming civil unions
to receive some three hundred state benefits avail-
able to married couples, including the right to inherit
a partner’s property and to decide on medical treat-
ment for an incapacitated partner. It did not, however,
entitle those partners to receive any benefits allowed
to married couples under federal law, such as spousal
Social Security benefits. A number of states have now
approved some system of rights for same-sex couples.
Several other states (and the District of Columbia) fully
recognize same-sex marriages.
state Recognition of same-sex marriages.
Massachusetts was the first state to recognize gay mar-
riage. In November 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court ruled that same-sex couples have a right
to civil marriage under the Massachusetts state consti-
tution.^25 For four years, Massachusetts stood alone in
approving such marriages. Beginning in 2008, however,
one or more additional states have legalized same-sex
marriage with every passing year.
Initially, state courts took the lead. In 2008, for example,
the Connecticut Supreme Court granted same-sex couples
marriage rights, and the state began issuing licenses the fol-
lowing year. In 2009, state legislatures began authorizing
the practice. In 2012, for the first time, voters in three states endorsed same-sex marriage
through a referendum or initiative.^26 By mid-2013, same-sex marriage was legal in California,
Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, New Hampshire, Iowa, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
The supreme Court supports the states. California’s route to recognizing same-sex
marriages was lengthy and unusual. In June 2008, the state Supreme Court legalized such
marriages. In November of that year, however, California voters approved Proposition 8,
a state constitutional amendment that overturned the court’s ruling. Despite Proposition
8, the state continued to recognize same-sex marriages contracted between June and
November. In 2010, a federal judge ruled that Proposition 8 violated the U.S. Constitution
because it singled out a particular group to deprive it of a right.
Same-sex marriages did not resume in California until 2013, after the United States
Supreme Court refused to rule on the case. The Court thus preserved lower-court rulings that
Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. With no ruling, the Court also refused to extend same-sex
marriage rights to any other state. While the Court in effect reversed a vote of the California
citizenry, every sign was that California was ready to change its mind on gay marriage anyway.^27
Also in 2013, the Supreme Court found that the provision of the Defense of Marriage
Act that banned federal recognition of same-sex marriages performed by the states was
unconstitutional.^28 This ruling, while also a victory for states’ rights, was of enormous value
to same-sex couples in states that permitted them to marry.- Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, 798 N.E.2d 941 (Mass. 2003).
- The states were Maine, Maryland, and Washington.
- Hollingsworth v. Perry, 547 U.S. ___ (2013).
- United States v. Windsor, 547 U.S. ___ (2013).
This same-sex couple in California was
married during a several-month interval in 2008 when such
marriages were legal in that state. California continued to
recognize these marriages even after a vote in November
2008 that prohibited new same-sex marriages. Why has
support for same-sex marriage grown so rapidly in the United
States and around the world? (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.