ABSTRACT
As of early 2003, no jurisdiction in the United States allowed or recognized marriages between partners of the same sex. The Netherlands was the first European country to allow same-sex couples to marry. In most jurisdictions in the United States, lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals are denied many basic protections against discrimination. Laws restricting marriage have been modified and updated over the years as attitudes and beliefs have shifted. According to the US Constitution's Full Faith and Credit Clause, states must recognize certain obligations, such as marriage, established in another state. Other countries are making progress in recognizing same-sex relationships as well. Since 1995 common law marriage statutes have covered Hungary's same-sex couples. Marriage licenses are not denied to heterosexual couples who don't want children, infertile couples, or women past menopause. Many married, heterosexual couples do not have children and many unmarried, same-sex couples do.
