ABSTRACT

The story of same-sex marriage in the United States has been one of bitter conflict followed by astonishingly rapid legal and cultural change. A little over a decade ago, the question of legal recognition for same-sex couples was an effective wedge issue in state and national politics, most prominently in the 2004 election. In that year, President George W. Bush used his State of the Union address to call for a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom responded by issuing marriage licenses from San Francisco City Hall, and 11 states approved state constitutional bans on same-sex marriage in the November general election, bringing the total number of states with constitutional or statutory prohibitions on same-sex marriage to 41. By contrast, only one state – Massachusetts – granted recognition to same-sex marriages (starting in May 2004), with a few other states recognizing marriage-like statuses such as civil unions and domestic partnerships. Poll after poll showed clear majority opposition to legal same-sex marriage. The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), denying federal recognition to same-sex marriages and affirming the rights of individual states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages formed in other states, had been on the books since 1996.