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 Editorials | At Issue | July 2006 
Map: Gay Marriage Across the US
 BBC News
Gay marriage is one of the most polarising issues in the United States. Here we outline the state of the law across the country, and look at the often intense debates which have surrounded the issue.
California
California - America's most populous state - has the country's most colourful record on gay marriages.
The city of San Francisco started issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples in February 2004, after the city's new mayor decided to defy state law and allow gay weddings.
More than 3,400 gay couples got married before California's Supreme Court ordered a halt the following month.
During the wedding spree, gay couples flocked to California from across the US. But the weddings angered conservative groups, which launched legal challenges to ban the weddings.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger came out against gay marriages, and told the state's attorney general to get a court ruling against them.
In August 2004, the state's Supreme Court ruled the mayor had exceeded his authority and nullified the unions.
But in a landmark decision on 14 March 2005, a judge ruled that California state law had breached a constitutional right to equal treatment of all citizens, irrespective of sexuality. That case has been appealed to a higher court and is expected to reach the state Supreme Court.
In September 2005, the state assembly became the first state legislature in the US to pass a bill endorsing gay marriages, following a similar move from the state Senate. Mr Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill.
Connecticut
In April 2005, Connecticut became the first state in the country to create a legal framework for civil partnerships without being instructed to do so by a court. (Vermont had done so earlier after its Supreme Court ruled that refusing to do so was discrimination.)
Like neighbouring Vermont, Connecticut bans gay marriage while allowing civil partnerships that confer many, but not all, of the same rights.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts became the first state to issue marriage licences for gay couples, in May 2004, and weddings took place soon after, despite last-ditch legal attempts by conservative groups to halt the process.
This followed re-affirmation in February 2004 by the state's Supreme Court of a landmark ruling that it is a violation of the state constitution to ban gay marriage.
It had originally ruled on the issue as a result of a lawsuit filed in 2001 by seven gay couples, who sued the Massachusetts Department of Public Health after they were refused marriage licences.
But Massachusetts gay couples who want to tie the knot fear they could yet be stripped of their marriage rights.
State legislators have proposed a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriages, but would allow civil unions. If the proposal passes further legal hurdles, it will be put to a referendum in autumn 2008.
Gay activists say the proposed civil unions do not go far enough, as gay couples would not be granted federal benefits, such as the right to file joint tax returns or receive Social Security (state pension) benefits if one partner dies.
New Mexico
Officials in Sandoval County, New Mexico, issued marriage licences to gay couples for a matter of hours on 20 February 2004, following the lead of San Francisco.
More than 60 couples are believed to have been married before the state's attorney general ordered that they be stopped.
"No county clerk should issue a marriage licence to same-sex couples because those licences would be invalid under current law," New Mexico attorney general Patricia Madrid wrote in an "advisory" statement to local officials.
New Mexico's state legislature has considered a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman, but the measure died in committee, leaving state law silent on gay marriage.
New York
New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, ruled in July 2006 that the state constitution did not require New York to recognise gay marriages.
But New York is one of few US states that does not have a law on the book explicitly banning them, and the high court said the legislature could introduce same-sex marriage if it wished.
Gay-marriage advocates are thought to have little chance of getting such a law approved, a possible reason they took the case to the courts instead of the legislature.
Oregon
Multnomah Country - which includes the city of Portland and is the most populous in Oregon - began issuing same-sex marriage licences on 3 March 2004.
About 3,000 were issued and another county, Benton, planned to follow suit.
But a judge ordered a freeze pending a court decision on the issue.
In November 2004, Oregon - along with 10 other states - voted to reject same-sex marriage.
In April 2005, the state's Supreme Court annulled the marriage licences issued in Multnomah County, saying they contravened state law.
Vermont
In 2000, under the governorship of former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, Vermont became the first US state to offer homosexuals the right to join in civil unions - although state law prevents them from being called marriages.
Under the legislation, same-sex partners resident in the state are allowed to apply for a licence similar to a marriage certificate, giving them the same benefits as married couples on matters such as life insurance, health care and child custody.
Couples wishing to separate have to go to court.
While the law grants homosexual couples many of the same rights as married people, the partnership is not recognised at the federal level.
President George W Bush has made clear that while he will support a constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage, individual states like Vermont will still be able to make their own arrangements on unions.
A number of states have, however, already moved to outlaw not just gay marriage but also the Vermont-style civil union. |
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