December 15, 2006, Newsletter Issue #11: States Against Marriage in the US

Tip of the Week

The opposition to gay marriage varies from county to county in each state, but repeated legal battles have shown that the strength to ban or approve gay marriage ultimately lies with each state's government.

Nineteen states - Alaska, Nevada, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Nebraska, Missouri, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama - have explicitly banned the recognition of same-sex marriage, defining marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman only. In Texas, Florida, Ohio and Kansas, marriages where one partner was a post-operative transsexual have been voided by the ban on same-sex marriage

It is possible for gay marriage to be banned altogether in the US via federal law. In May 2006, Republicans put forward a Federal Marriage Amendment, an amendment that would prevent states from recognizing gay marriages. The amendment was ultimately defeated in the United States Senate, but without federal legislation supporting gay marriage, a similar law may be introduced in the future.

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