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General Resources about Same Sex Marriage

CQ Researcher

  • Gay Marriage (2013)
  • Gay Marriage Showdowns (2008, updated 2012)
  • Gay Marriage (2003)
  • Domestic Partners (1992)

Issues: Marriage and Relationship Recognition (National Center for Lesbian Rights)

Issues: Marriage, Relationships & Family Protections (Lambda Legal)

Topics: Marriage (Human Rights Campaign)

National LGBTQ Task Force

Ballot Measures by Subject (National Institute on Money in State Politics)

  • Gay & Lesbian Rights - Adoption
  • Gay & Lesbian Rights - Marriage
  • Gay & Lesbian Rights - Partnership

U.S. Census - Same Sex Couples

Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) - text of 1996 law, bill history, congressional reports

The Potential Budgetary Impact of Recognizing Same-Sex Marriages - Congressional Budget Office, June 21, 2004

Reports from the U.S. Government Accountability Office:

  • Defense of Marriage Act (GAO-04-353R) - letter dated January 23, 2004, responding to Sen. Bill Frist, to update the 1997 report.
  • Defense of Marriage Act (GAO/OGC-97-16) - letter dated January 31, 1997, responding to Rep. Henry J. Hyde, to identify "all those laws in the United States Code in which marital status is a factor, even though some of these laws may not directly create benefits, rights, or privileges."

Bibliographies & Other Resources (GLBTRT of the American Library Association)

  • Same-Sex Marriage - Bibliography & Selected Resources

Same-Sex Marriage: A Selective Bibliography of the Legal Literature (Rutgers Law Library)

American Law Reports provide detailed discussions concerning legal issues with extensive summaries of relevant court cases.
Reference KF 132.A5...

  • 1 ALR Fed 2d 1 - Marriage between Persons of Same Sex, United States & Canadian Cases (available via WestLaw)
  • 8 ALR6th 339 - Validity of Legal Claim Predicated on Nonmarital Same-Sex Relationship
  • 5 ALR6th 303 - Child Support Obligations of Former Same-Sex Partners
  • 74 ALR5th 439 - Validity of Governmental Domestic Partnership Enactment
  • 73 ALR5th 599 - Effect of Same-Sex Relationship on Right to Spousal Support

Status of Same-Sex Marriage (Wikipedia)

Housing & Mortgages for Gay & Lesbian Couples "explains the different approaches that same-sex couples can take to getting a mortgage, establishing ownership of a home, and creating legal documents that anticipate any legal or property-ownership issues that might occur if the couple breaks up or one partner dies."

General Florida Resources

Issues: Marriage Equality (Equality Florida)

ACLU - Domestic Partnerships (American Civil Liberties Union of Florida)

"Comment: For Better or for Worse: A Critical Analysis of Florida's Defense of Marriage Act" by Michael J. Kanotz, Florida State University Law Review, Winter 1998, v.25, pp.439-462
25 Fla.St.U.L.Rev. 439

"Comment: Are Same-Sex Prenuptial Agreements Enforceable in Florida? Posik v. Layton, Law & Policy" by Brett A. Barfield, St. Thomas Law Review, Winter 1998, v.10, pp.407-440
10 St.Thomas L.Rev. 407

Florida Constitutional Amendment 2, 2008

Constitutional Amendment 2, 2008:

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF FLORIDA THAT:
A new section for Article I is hereby created to add the following:

Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.

Florida Constitution, Article I, Section 27:

SECTION 27. Marriage defined.--Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.
History.--Proposed by Initiative Petition filed with the Secretary of State February 9, 2005; adopted 2008.

Constitutional Amendment 2, 2008, Initiative Information (Florida Division of Elections)

Amendment 2: Same-sex Marriage Ban (National Institute on Money in State Politics)

Election Results by County - Florida Marriage Protection Amendment (Florida Division of Elections)

Florida Statutes - law passed in 1997

Florida Statutes, 2008, 741.212

741.212 Marriages between persons of the same sex.--

(1) Marriages between persons of the same sex entered into in any jurisdiction, whether within or outside the State of Florida, the United States, or any other jurisdiction, either domestic or foreign, or any other place or location, or relationships between persons of the same sex which are treated as marriages in any jurisdiction, whether within or outside the State of Florida, the United States, or any other jurisdiction, either domestic or foreign, or any other place or location, are not recognized for any purpose in this state.

(2) The state, its agencies, and its political subdivisions may not give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any state, territory, possession, or tribe of the United States or of any other jurisdiction, either domestic or foreign, or any other place or location respecting either a marriage or relationship not recognized under subsection (1) or a claim arising from such a marriage or relationship.

(3) For purposes of interpreting any state statute or rule, the term "marriage" means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the term "spouse" applies only to a member of such a union.

History.--s. 1, ch. 97-268.

Florida Annotated Statutes 741.212 (LexisNexis Academic) provides annotations listing relevant cases and law review articles.

Laws of Florida, Chapter 97-268
Florida Documents SS.5:L3/

Committee Substitute for House Bill No. 147 - became a law without the Governor's approval June 5, 1997

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Resources

Congressional Research Service Reports

Marriage and Family

Military

Other

Same-Sex Marriage in U.S.

Became legal in:

  • 2004 - Massachusetts
  • 2008 - Connecticut
  • 2008 - *California (see 2013)
  • 2009 - Iowa
  • 2009 - Vermont
  • 2010 - New Hampshire
  • 2010 - District of Columbia
  • 2011 - New York
  • 2012 - Washington
  • 2012 - Maine
  • 2013 - Maryland (Jan 1)
  • 2013 - California (Jun 28)
  • 2013 - Delaware (Jul 1)
  • 2013 - Minnesota (Aug 1)
  • 2013 - Rhode Island (Aug 1)
  • 2013 - New Jersey (Oct 21)
  • 2013 - Illinois (Nov 20)
  • 2013 - Hawaii (Dec 2)
  • 2013 - New Mexico (Dec 19)
  • 2014 - Oregon (May 19)
  • 2014 - Pennsylvania (May 20)
  • 2014 - Indiana (Oct 6)
  • 2014 - Oklahoma (Oct 6)
  • 2014 - Utah (Oct 6)
  • 2014 - Virginia (Oct 6)
  • 2014 - Wisconsin (Oct 6)
  • 2014 - Colorado (Oct 7)
  • 2014 - Nevada (Oct 9)
  • 2014 - West Virginia (Oct 9)
  • 2014 - North Carolina (Oct 10)
  • 2014 - Idaho (Oct 15)
  • 2014 - Alaska (Oct 17)
  • 2014 - Arizona (Oct 17)
  • 2014 - Wyoming (Oct 21)
  • 2014 - Montana (Nov 19)
  • 2014 - South Carolina (Nov 20)
  • 2015 - Florida (Jan 6)
  • 2015 - *Alabama (Feb 9 partial)
  • 2014 - *Texas (stayed Feb 26)
  • 2014 - *Arkansas (stayed May 16)
  • 2014 - *Missouri (stayed Nov 7)
  • 2014 - *Kansas (Nov 12 partial)
  • 2014 - *Mississippi (stayed Dec 4)
  • 2015 - *South Dakota (stayed Jan 12)

Other States Potentially Impacted by Appellate Rulings:

  • 2014 (pending) 5th Circuit
    • Louisiana
    • Mississippi
    • Texas
  • 2014 6th Circuit - bans upheld
    (appealed to Supreme Court)
    • Kentucky
    • Michigan
    • Ohio
    • Tennessee
  • 2014 (pending) 11th Circuit
    • Alabama
    • Florida
    • Georgia
  • 2015 (pending) 8th Circuit
    • Arkansas
    • Missouri
    • South Dakota

Same-Sex Marriage International

Became legal in:

  • 2001 - Netherlands
  • 2003 - Belgium
  • 2005 - Spain
  • 2005 - Canada
  • 2006 - South Africa
  • 2009 - Norway
  • 2009 - Sweden
  • 2010 - Portugal
  • 2010 - Iceland
  • 2010 - Argentina
  • 2012 - Denmark
  • 2013 - Brazil
  • 2013 - France
  • 2013 - Uruguay
  • 2013 - New Zealand
  • 2014 - England
  • 2014 - Wales
  • 2014 - Scotland
  • 2015 - Luxembourg
  • 2015 - United States
  • 2015 - Ireland
  • 2016 - Colombia