Same-sex marriage status in the United States by state

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Laws regarding same-sex partnerships in the United States

Same-sex marriage¹

Unions granting rights similar to marriage¹^,2

Legislation granting limited/enumerated rights¹

Same-sex marriages performed elsewhere recognized¹

No specific prohibition or recognition of same-sex marriages or unions

Statute bans same-sex marriage

Constitution bans same-sex marriage²

Constitution bans same-sex marriage and some or all other kinds of same-sex unions

¹May include recent laws or court decisions which have created legal recognition of same-sex relationships, but which have not entered into effect yet.
²Same-sex marriage laws in California are complicated; please see the article on same-sex marriage in California.

Same-sex unions have been on the political radar in the United States since the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that denying licenses to same-sex partners violated the Hawaii constitution unless there is a "compelling state interest." Since Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2004, other states have redefined their own marriage laws, both for and against same-sex marriage.

This article tracks the status of those laws. It is intended only as a resource for the bottom line current legal status of same-sex unions right now regardless of pending litigation. See same-sex marriage legislation in the United States for the outcome of specific legislation and same-sex marriage law in the United States by state for detailed descriptions.

Marriage is defined as the union of one man and one woman in at least 42 states.^[1] Currently, 30 states have added amendments banning same-sex unions to their constitutions. There are currently eight states that recognize or will soon recognize same-sex marriages, and a total of six (plus the District of Columbia) that recognize some form of same-sex civil unions or domestic partnerships.^[2]

[edit] State-by-state listing

Below is the status of the law in each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia.

The Marriage Defined column tells whether that state contains any statutes or constitutional language that defines marriage as between a man and a woman or otherwise bans same-sex marriages.
- The Constitution sub-column gives links to the constitutional amendment story, if existing.
- The Statute leads to the corresponding section of Same-sex marriage legislation in the United States by state to afford full legislation about constitution and statutes. (Under construction, if not afforded, see HRC and Domawatch links below that page).
The other links (licenses - Civil unions status - domestic partnership status - provides for appropriate page denominations according to marriage - civil unions - domestic partnership and shows the existing pages if the link is active. Civil unions denomination is left in the plural form because it is the rule used for other countries (see Category:Marriage, unions and partnerships by country below )
- The details for the marriage recognition (Recogn.) are to be found with the marriage license link when active. Since constitutional bans are more difficult to overturn, the marriage license and recognition columns have been merged in such cases for relevant states.
- Def. means constitutional definition amendment for the corresponding unions or partnership. When it happens to be the same constitutional definition amendment as the link in the Marriage Defined - Constitution column, the Def. and Status columns have been merged. Otherwise another link is proposed to the other relevant amendment in the Def. column in relevant cases.
The blue squares show what is allowed and green ones, potential changes in the near future.
The notes column gives better detail and recent possibilities.

State	Marriage				Same-sex unions				Notes
	Defined		Result		Civil Unions		Domestic Partnership
	Constitution	Statute	Licenses	Recogn.	Def.	Status	Def.	Status
Alabama	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		No	None
Alaska	Yes	Yes	Banned		No	None	No	None	Petitions are made to start a ban ballot on civil unions too, but have all failed over the years.
Arizona	Yes	Yes	Banned		No	None	No	None
Arkansas	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		No	None
California	Yes	Yes (°)	Banned Ban upheld by California Supreme Court.^[3] Ban overturned by the District Court for Northern California, ruling stayed pending appeal.	Yes; Conditional	No	None	No	Yes	Main article: Same-sex marriage in California 2 Attempts to pass marriage have been vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Supreme Court struck down ban on same-sex marriage (In Re Marriage Cases). Proposition 8 qualifies by petition as an initiative for constitutional amendment to ban marriage. Originally in 1999 under a passed law granting only hospital visitation rights, the scope of domestic partnerships was gradually expanded over the years that now has virtually nearly all the legal rights, duties and responsibilities of marriage in California - just as Nevada, Oregon and Washington state have done just next door. Now a domestic partnership in California is the same as another states civil union scheme (e.g. Hawaii, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island).
Colorado	Yes	Yes	Banned		No	Proposed^[4]	Yes	few rights in a designated beneficiary agreement	On November 2006 ballot, Colorado banned marriage but rejected a referendum to allow a "civil union"-like domestic partnership, sustained by a constitutional amendment. See also this table. In 2011, the Civil Union Bill passed the state Senate by a vote of 23-12.^[5] The state House Committee rejected the bill by a vote of 5-6, because the Republican party have a one-seat majority in the House.^[6] In 2012, it is expected that the same bill will pass the floor of the state Senate again and come to a state House Committee vote again, however it is hard to say if the same bill will pass both the 2 state House Committees and on the voting floor of the state House.^[7]
Connecticut	No	No	Legal* by Supreme Court decision, then by legislation.	Yes	Converted into civil marriage on 1 October 2010	Converted into civil marriage on 1 October 2010	None	None	Main article: Same-sex marriage in Connecticut Connecticut allows full civil marriage licences to same-sex couples since November 2008 and all civil unions converted into civil marriage on 1 October 2010.
Delaware	No	Yes	Not legal	Yes, only as civil unions, same-sex marriage banned under statute since 1997.	Yes	Yes	No	None	In 2011, the Delaware state legislature passed and the Governor signed the Civil Union Act 2011 into law. The law commenced at 10am on 1.1.2012.
District of Columbia	No	No	Legal	Yes	No	None	No	Legal*	Main article: Same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia Domestic partnerships were enacted in 1992; implemented from 2002 and then expanded over time to 2009. Same-sex marriages were legalized on December 18, 2009 and same-sex marriages began on March 9, 2010.
Florida	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		No	None
Georgia	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		No	None
Hawaii	Yes	Yes	Ban permitted Not legal.	Yes, only as civil unions, same-sex marriage banned under statute since 1998.	Yes	Yes	Legal since 1997.	Legal*	Since 1997, there have been minimal benefits available to all adults (including relatives); official terminology is reciprocal beneficiary relationship.^[2] In 2011, the Hawaii State Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law the Civil Union Act 2011 No 1*. The law became effective from midnight 1.1.2012.
Idaho	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		Banned		In February 2011 legislation to legalize gay marriage was vetoed by Butch Otter.
Illinois	No	Yes	Not legal	Yes, as civil unions only	Yes.	Yes	No	None	Petitions are made to start a ban ballot have been unsuccessful in all Legislative sessions. The Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Bill passed the 2010 Illinois Legislature in just 2 days, got signed into law on January 28, 2011 by the Governor and became effective from June 1, 2011. See Civil union in the United States#Illinois.
Indiana	No	Yes	Not legal	Not legal	No	None	No	None	Legislative initiative to start a ban ballot voted on and passed in the 2011 Legislative session and must pass again in the same format in the next legislative session.
Iowa	No	No	Legal* by Supreme Court decision	Yes	No	None	No	None	Main article: Same-sex marriage in Iowa In August 2007, Polk County judge ruled Iowa's statutory ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, but ruling was quickly stayed and appealed. On appeal, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the Polk County ruling in the case of Varnum v. Brien. Legislative initiative to begin constitutional ban ballot process was unsuccessful in 2009. Republicans will continue to try to push for these ballot bans in the next Legislative sessions, while the Democrats will continue to oppose ballot bans in the next legislative sessions.
Kansas	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		None
Kentucky	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		No	None
Louisiana	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		No	None
Maine	No	Banned by statute since 1997 and was rejected by "the people's veto" in 2009.	No (rejected by "the people's veto" in 2009)	No/Yes, only as domestic partnerships.	No	None	Yes, limited rights (both opposite sex and same sex since 2004)	Legal*	Main article: Domestic partnership in Maine The Maine Domestic Partnership Act came into effect on July 30, 2004.^[1] Same-sex couple who married elsewhere may register their marriage as a domestic partnership. In 2009, the "people's veto" won by 52.9 percent in November and repealed the recently passed same sex marriage that passed the Maine Legislature and got signed into law. In 2012, a LGBT rights group called Equality Maine announced that in November 2012 voters will return be asked the same 2009 question at the ballot box^[8].
Maryland	No	Yes	Not yet in effect*	Not legal, but recognised since 2010.	No	None	Yes, limited rights (unregistered DPs are for both opposite sex and same sex since 2008)	Legal*	Main article: Same-sex marriage in Maryland "The first state law defining marriage as a union between a man and woman was adopted by Maryland in 1973."^[1] Since 2010, same-sex marriage has been recognised in Maryland and for years bills have been introduced to the Maryland Legislature that allows same sex marriage. In 2012, the Maryland House by a vote of 72-67 passed the Civil Marriage Protection Bill 2012^[9], then a week later the same bill passed the Maryland Senate by a vote of 25-21^[10]. The bill got signed into law on March 1, 2012 by Martin O’Malley.^[11]
Massachusetts	No	No	Legal* by Supreme Court decision	Yes.	No	None	No	None	Main article: Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts
Michigan	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		Banned* by Supreme Court decision
Minnesota	No	Yes	Not legal	Not legal	No	None	No	None	Legislative initiative and petitions are made to start a ban ballot. Following the 2011 Minnesota Legislature vote, there will be constitutional amendment to define marriage as: a marriage can only be between a man and a woman under the laws of this state written into the Minnesota Constitution on November 2012.
Mississippi	Yes	Yes	Banned		No	None	No	None
Missouri	Yes	Yes	Banned		No	None	No	None
Montana	Yes	Yes	Banned		No	None	No	None
Nebraska	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		Banned
Nevada	Yes	Yes	Banned		No	No	Yes	Yes	Domestic partnership legislation in Nevada is similar to CA, OR and WA models.
New Hampshire	No	No	Legal	Yes	Converted into civil marriage on 1 January 2011.	Converted into civil marriage on 1 January 2011.	No	None	Since 1.1.2010, New Hampshire allows full civil marriage licences to same-sex couples and all civil unions automatically converted into civil marriage a year later.
New Jersey	No	No*	Proposed	As civil unions	No	Legal	No	No more but present valid ones allowed.	Main article: Same-sex marriage in New Jersey The state of New Jersey has neither allowed nor recognized marriages between couples of the same-sex. However, the New Jersey Supreme Court, in Lewis v. Harris, required the New Jersey Legislature to change state law by April 24, 2007 to afford same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples.^[12] A bill now allows civil unions that will supersede domestic partnerships. These are no more applied but may remain for the present ones. In 2012, A1 and S1 (also called the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act) has been introduced. In February S1 passed the NJ Senate with a vote of 24-16^[13]^[14]. Four days later the bill called A1 passed the NJ House with a vote of 42-33^[15]. A day later both A1 and S1 bills got vetoed by Republican Governor Chris Christie^[16]
New Mexico	No	No	None	None	No	None	No	None	Does not contain any public policy explicitly banning same-sex marriage nor defining marriage as between a man and a woman (effectively making the state neutral).
New York	Yes	Yes	Legal	Yes.	No	None	No	None	Main article: Same-sex marriage in New York The Marriage Equality Act 2011 passed the 2011 New York State Legislature (after a 33-29 vote in the NY state Senate) on 24/6/2011^[17] and then two hours later the bill got signed into law by the Governor and became effective 30 days later.
North Carolina	No	Yes	Not legal	Not legal	No	None	No	None	Legislative initiative and petitions are made to start a ban ballot. Following the 2011 North Carolina Legislature vote, there will be constitutional amendment to define marriage as: a marriage can only be between a man and a woman in this state under the laws of this state written into the North Carolina Constitution on May 2012, during the primary election.^[18]
North Dakota	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		No	None
Ohio	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		No	None
Oklahoma	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		No	None
Oregon	Yes	No	Banned*		No	Legal	No	Yes	Main article: Same-sex marriage in Oregon Domestic partnership legislation in Oregon is very similar to the CA, NV and WA models.
Pennsylvania	No	Yes	Not legal	Not legal	No	None	No	None	Legislative initiative to start a ban ballot voted on and passed in the 2011 Legislative session and must pass again in the same format in the next legislative session.
Rhode Island	No	No	Proposed	Yes, as civil unions.	Yes	Yes	No	None	Does not contain any public policy explicitly banning same-sex marriage nor defining marriage as between a man and a woman (effectively making the state neutral). Does not award marriage licenses, but does extend limited rights to same-sex couples.^[2] Now this is the basis on which RI will recognize the same-sex couples married in Massachusetts according to the Attorney General. The Civil Union Bill passed the Rhode Island state Legislature on 28 June 2011 and was signed into law on July 2, 2011 by the Governor and was made retrospective from 1 July 2011.
South Carolina	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		Yes	None
South Dakota	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		Banned
Tennessee	Yes	Yes	Banned		No	None	No	None
Texas	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		No	None
Utah	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		No	None
Vermont	No	No	Legal^[19]	Yes	No	Between 2000 to 2009 only but present valid ones allowed.	No	None	Vermont practically invented the term "civil union" in 1999 after the state court case of Baker v. Vermont. In 2000, the Vermont Legislature passed the Civil Union Bill and got signed into law by then Governor Howard Dean. In 2009, Vermont then allowed civil marriage licences to same-sex couples, after the Civil Marriage Equality And Religious Freedoms Bill passed the Vermont Legislature, then the Governor Jim Douglas vetoed the bill and then the veto was overridden. Civil unions are still recognised between 2000 to 2009, but after 2009 can not be performed - also there is no "conversion into civil marriage" as both the states of Connecticut and New Hampshire have done next door.
Virginia	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		Banned
Washington	No	Yes	Not in effect yet *	Yes, as domestic partnerships.	No	None	Yes	Legal	Main article: Same-sex marriage in Washington A law passed in 2007 to establish domestic partnerships similar to CA, OR and NV models and then in 2008 the domestic partnership law expanded. The 2009 reforms called the "all-but-marriage law" came into effect from December 3, 2009 was approved by 53 percent of voters under Washington Referendum 71 (2009). In July 2011, a law passed that will allow same-sex marriage and other same-sex unions (such as civil unions or domestic partnerships) from another state to be recognised as domestic partnerships under WA state law^[20] In February 2012, the Washington state legislature passed SB6239^[21] that deals with the legislation to allow same sex marriage and enhance religious freedoms. The bill got to the last stage with a signature from a Democrat Governor Christine Gregoire^[22]^[23]
West Virginia	No	Yes	Not legal	Not legal	No	None	No	None	Petitions are made to start a ban ballot, however that is not possible due to the Democrats controlling both houses.
Wisconsin	Yes	Yes	Banned		Banned		Yes	Yes	Domestic partnerships provide certain limited legal rights, just like the state of Maine.
Wyoming	No	Yes	Not legal	Not legal	No	None	No	None	State law pre-dates DOMA.^[1]
State	Marriage				Same-sex unions				Notes
	Defined		Result		Civil Unions		Domestic Partnership
	Constitution	Statute	Licenses	Recogn.	Def.	Status	Def.	Status