Same-sex marriage status in the United States by state

Laws regarding same-sex partnerships in the United States

  Same-sex marriages granted¹

  Unions granting rights similar to marriage

  Legislation granting limited/enumerated rights

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

  State statute bans same-sex marriage

  State constitution bans same-sex marriage

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

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¹Also includes 3 states with laws taking effect later this year (July 1: RI; August 1: DE & MN).
²For the complex status of SSM in California, 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 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 38 states. Currently, 32 states have added amendments banning same-sex unions to their constitutions. There are currently 13 jurisdictions (or 12 states) that recognize same-sex marriages (plus the District of Columbia), and 8 states recognize some form of same-sex union recognition (being either civil unions or domestic partnerships).

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	No (°)	Banned Ban upheld by California Supreme Court. Ban overturned by the District Court for Northern California, ruling affirmed by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.	Yes; Conditional		No	None	Yes since 1999	Yes	Main article: Same-sex marriage in California Two attempts to pass marriage were 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 both Nevada and Oregon have done just next door. Now a domestic partnership in California is the same as another states civil union scheme (e.g. Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois and New Jersey).
Colorado	Yes	Yes	Banned			Yes.	Yes	Yes since 2009	Legal*	On a ballot in November 2006, 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 2013, SB-11 (Civil Union Bill 2013) passed the Colorado legislature in March 2013 (by a 21-14 vote in the Senate and by a 39-26 vote in the House). The Civil Union Bill (SB-11) has been signed into law by the Colorado Governor John W. Hickenlooper a week later from passing and the law went into effect on May 1, 2013.
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 licenses to same-sex couples since November 2008 and all civil unions converted into civil marriage on 1 October 2010.
Delaware	No	Yes	Legal by signed legislation (effective from July 1, 2013)	Yes, from July 1, 2013		Yes, to be converted to civil marriage July 1, 2014.	Yes, to be converted to civil marriage July 1, 2014.	No	None	In 2011, the Delaware state legislature passed and the Governor signed the Civil Union and Equality Act 2011 into law. The law commenced at 10am on 1.1.2012. In 2013, the Delaware state legislature passed and the Governor signed the Civil Marriage Equality and Religious Freedom Act 2013 into law. The law goes into effect on midnight 1.7.2013. On the 1.7.2014, all existing civil unions will automatically be converted into civil marriage (like Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire have done).
District of Columbia	No	No	Legal by Council vote	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	No	Yes	Ban permitted Not legal.	Yes, only as civil unions, same-sex marriage banned under statute since 1998.		Yes	Yes	Yes since 1997.	Legal*	Since 1997, there have been minimal benefits available to all adults (including relatives); official terminology is reciprocal beneficiary relationship*. 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
Illinois	No	Yes	Pending	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, was signed into law on January 28, 2011 by the Governor and became effective on 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	Yes	Legal ("Approved" by 53% of voters)	Yes		No	None	Yes, limited rights (both opposite sex and same sex since 2004)	Legal*	Main article: Same-sex marriage in Maine In 2009, the Maine legislature legalized same-sex marriage in the state, and it was signed into law, but it was repealed just months later by the "people's veto" won with 52.9 percent of the vote. In 2012, a LGBT rights group called Equality Maine announced that in November 2012 voters would be asked again about the issue at the ballot box. Maine voters reversed their previous veto, and with the support of 53% of voters, legal same-sex marriage came into effect on December 29, 2012.
Maryland	No	Yes	Legal ("Approved" by 52% of voters)	Yes		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." 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, then a week later the same bill passed the Maryland Senate by a vote of 25-21. The bill got signed into law on March 1, 2012 by Martin O’Malley. The referendum in November was approved with 52% support and becomes effective from January 1, 2013.
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. Proposed amendment rejected by voters in 2012.	Legal from August 1, 2013.	Legal from August 1, 2013.	Legal from August 1, 2013.		No	None	No	None	On November 6th, 2012, Minnesota voters struck down a legislatively referred constitutional amendment that would have placed language in the Minnesota Constitution banning same-sex marriage. The amendment was defeated with 53% voting "no" and 47% voting "yes". A majority of voters having voted "no", Minnesota became the second state (after Arizona in 2006) to reject an amendment of this kind and uphold the state constitution in its unaltered state. On May 9, 2013, the Minnesota House voted 75-59 to legalize same-sex marriage. On May 13, 2013, the Minnesota Senate approved the bill 37-30. Governor Mark Dayton signed the bill on May 14, and marriages will begin August 1, 2013.
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	No	Banned			No	No	Yes	Yes	Domestic partnership legislation in Nevada is similar to both California and Oregon just next door.
New Hampshire	No	No	Legal by signed legislation	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. 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. Four days later the bill called A1 passed the NJ House with a vote of 42-33. A day later both A1 and S1 bills were vetoed by Republican Governor Chris Christie
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 by signed legislation	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 6/24/2011 and then two hours later the bill got signed into law by the Governor and became effective 30 days later.
North Carolina	Yes	Yes	Banned			Banned		Banned
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 both California and Nevada just next door.
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	Yes	Legal by signed legislation (effective August 1, 2013)	Yes since 2012.		Yes (to be converted into civil marriage August 1, 2013).	Yes (to be converted into civil marriage August 1, 2013).	No	None	From August 1, 2013 same-sex marriage will be legal in Rhode island and all current civil unions will automatically be converted into civil marriages - under a bill that passed by the Rhode Island Legislature and signed into law by the Governor in May 2013. Since 2012, Rhode Island does recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions and extend limited rights to same-sex couples. The Civil Union Bill passed the Rhode Island 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. On the 1.8.2013, all existing civil unions will automatically be converted into civil marriage (like Connecticut, Delaware and New Hampshire have done).
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 by override of Governor's veto	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 recognized 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	Legal ("Approved" by 54% of voters)	Yes. All current domestic partnerships where neither party is age 62 or over on January 1, 2014 converts into civil marriage automatically.		No	None	Yes, legal until January 1, 2014, then converted into civil marriages. After that only legal where at least one party is age 62 or over.	Legal until January 1, 2014, then converted into civil marriages.	Main article: Same-sex marriage in Washington A law passed in 2007 to establish domestic partnerships similar to California, Oregon and Nevada just next door and then in 2008 the domestic partnership law expanded. The 2009 reforms called the "everything-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 recognized as domestic partnerships under WA state law In February 2012, the Washington state legislature passed SB6239 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 The referendum in November on the subject of same sex marriage passed with 54% approved and became effective on December 6, 2012. From January 1, 2014 all current domestic partnerships where neither party is age 62 or over will convert into civil marriages.
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	Legal	Domestic partnerships provide certain limited rights since 2009.
Wyoming	No	Yes	Not legal	Not legal		No	None	No	None	State law pre-dates DOMA.
State	Marriage					Same-sex unions				Notes
	Defined		Result			Civil Unions		Domestic Partnership
	Constitution	Statute	Licenses	Recogn.		Def.	Status	Def.	Status

See also

In general

• Same-sex marriage
• Timeline of same-sex marriage

In USA

• Same-sex marriage in the United States
• Timeline of same-sex marriage in the United States
• Public opinion of same-sex marriage in the United States
• Same-sex marriage legislation in the United States
• Same-sex marriage law in the United States by state
• Rights and responsibilities of marriages in the United States
• Defense of Marriage Act
• Marriage Protection Act of 2007
• U.S. state constitutional amendments banning same-sex unions
• List of U.S. state constitutional amendments banning same-sex unions by type
• Federal Marriage Amendment
• Domestic partnership in the United States
• Freedom to Marry Coalition
• LGBT rights in the United States