States with legal gay marriages
The Journey to Marriage Equality in the Joined States
The road to nationwide marriage equality was a long one, spanning decades of United States history and culminating in victory in June 2015. Throughout the long struggle for marriage equality, HRC was at the forefront.
Volunteer with HRC
From gathering supporters in small towns across the country to rallying in front of the Supreme Court of the United States, we gave our all to secure every person, regardless of whom they love, is recognized equally under the law.
A Growing Call for Equality
Efforts to legalize homosexual marriage began to pop up across the region in the 1990s, and with it challenges on the state and national levels. Civil unions for same-sex couples existed in many states but created a separate but matching standard. At the federal level, couples were denied access to more than 1,100 federal rights and responsibilities associated with the institution, as well as those denied by their given state. The Defense of Marriage Act was signed into law in 1996 and defined marriage by the federal government as between a gentleman and woman, thereby allowing states to deny m
Date Same Sex Marriage Legalized By State
All 50 states in the United States have legalized same-sex marriage. Below are the dates when each state did so. On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is a right guaranteed by the Constitution, thus making same-sex marriage legal in the 13 states that have not legalized same-sex marriage up to that point.
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