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United States > Gender Issues

U.S. Policies on Same-Sex Marriage

United States Policies

The purpose of the indicators is to provide a quick reference tool to show the position of each state concerning same-sex marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships, prohibitive laws, and prohibitive state constitutional amendments.

U.S. Indicator	Explanation
0	Constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage
1	Law prohibiting same-sex marriage
2	"Silent and ambiguous" are states that do not expressly allow nor prohibit same-sex couples from marrying there.
3	States recognizing domestic partnership protections
4	States granting civil unions
5	States issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples.

U.S. States

State	Indicator(s)	State	Indicator(s)
Alabama	0¹, 1	Montana	0, 1
Alaska	0, 1	Nebraska	0¹
Arizona	1	Nevada	0
Arkansas	0¹, 1	New Hampshire	5
California	0², 1, 4	New Jersey	4
Colorado	1, 2	New Mexico	2
Connecticut	5	New York	2³
Delaware	1	North Carolina	1
Florida	1	North Dakota	0¹, 1
Georgia	0¹, 1	Ohio	0¹, 1
Hawaii	0, 1, 3	Oklahoma	0¹, 1
Idaho	0¹, 1	Oregon	0, 3
Illinois	1	Pennsylvania	1
Indiana	1	Rhode Island	2
Iowa	5	South Carolina	0¹, 1
Kansas	0¹, 1	South Dakota	0¹, 1
Kentucky	0¹, 1	Tennessee	0, 1
Louisiana	0¹, 1	Texas	0¹, 1
Maine	f1, 3	Utah	0¹, 1
Maryland	1	Vermont	5
Massachusetts	5	Virginia	0¹, 1
Michigan	0¹, 1	Washington	1, 3
Minnesota	1	West Virginia	1
Mississippi	0, 1	Wisconsin	0¹, 1
Missouri	0, 1	Wyoming	1
		District of Columbia	5

1. Contains language that may affect other legal relationships, such as civil unions or domestic partnerships.

2. On Nov. 4, 2009, voters narrowly pass a ballot measure, Proposition 8, that overturns the May 15, 2008, California Supreme Court decision that said same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. Many supporters of same-sex marriage blame the results of the vote on an expensive campaign by the Mormon church, which opposes gay marriage. The approximately 18,000 marriage licenses already issued are still officially recognized as legal.

3. New York recognizes valid out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples.

Source: Human Rights Campaign, The Pew Charitable Trusts

What Is a Civil Union?

Gender Issues

International Policies on Same-Sex Marriage