History of Marriage Equality

1
History of Marriage Equality 93-08

• Baehr v. Lewin, (Hawaii, 1993)
• First State Supreme Court to rule traditional
  marriage laws unconstitutional (plurality
  decision)
• Sex discrimination (yes)
• Sexual orientation discrimination (no)
• Dependent on Immutability of Homosexuality
• Federal Defense of Marriage Act
• Sec 1 No state has to recognize same-sex
  marriages
• Sec 2 Federal government prohibited from
  recognizing SSM
• (Signed into law by Pres. Clinton Sep. 21, 1996)
• Baehr v. Miike, (Hawaii, 1997)
• Repealed in Nov. 1998 by Amendment 2
• The Legislature shall have the power to regulate
  marriage.

2
History of Marriage Equality 93-08

• Baker v. State (Vermont, 1999)
• Ruled the State of Vermont must treat same-sex
  couples similarly to opposite-sex couples
• Vermont Legislature enacted and Gov. Howard Dean
  signed the nations first Civil Unions bill which
  went into effect July 1, 2000
• Electoral Backlash Accelerates
• 1998 (HI, AK)
• 2000 (NE, CA)
• Californias Proposition 22 passes March 7, 2000
  62-38 Only marriage between a man and a woman
  shall be valid or recognized in California
• 2002 (NV)
• 2004 (13 states!)
• 2005 (KS, TX)
• 2006 (8 states, AZ becomes first and only state
  to defeat an anti-gay marriage ballot measure)
• 2008 (CA, FL, AZ)

3
History of Marriage Equality 93-08

• Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health
  (Massachusetts, 2003)
• Ruled the States denial of civil marriage was
  not rationally related to a legitimate state
  interest and violated due process (fundamental
  right to marry) and equal protection (creation of
  second class citizens)
• Delayed the decision 180 days to go into effect
  on May 17, 2004 (50th Anniversary of Brown v.
  Board of Education)
• MA constitution requires amendments approved by
  state legislature in two consecutive sessions
  (earliest The People would be able to vote on the
  question would be November 2006)
• February 12 to March 11, 2004 San Francisco City
  Clerk issues marriage licenses to same-sex
  couples
• Federal Marriage Amendment (FAILED 227 Yes, 186
  No Sep. 30, 2004 in U.S. House)
• Marriage in the United States shall consist
  solely of the union of a man and a woman. Neither
  this Constitution, nor the constitution of any
  State, shall be construed to require that
  marriage or the legal incidents thereof be
  conferred upon any union other than the union of
  a man and a woman

4
History of Marriage Equality 93-08

• Do Justices read election returns? George W. Bush
  defeats John Kerry in 2004 election
• Legislative actions California passes marriage
  bills in 2005 and 2007, vetoed both times by
  Governator
• 2005-2008 mostly state court losses
• Washington (2006)
• New York (2006)
• Maryland (2007)
• Lewis v. Harris (New Jersey, 2006)
• State must treat same-sex couples equally
• In Re Marriage Cases (California, 2008)
• Proposition 22 and states marriage law are
  unconstitutional
• sexual orientation is a suspect classification
• Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health
  (Connecticut, Oct. 28, 2008)
• Civil Unions are not equivalent to marriage!

5
The Future!?

• Blogger Nate Silver (fivethirtyeight.com) has
  looked at the 30 states that have voted to amend
  their constitution and done a regression analysis
  which shows that the most important factors are
• 1. The year in which the amendment was voted
  upon
• 2. The percentage of adults in 2008 Gallup
  tracking surveys who said that religion was an
  important part of their daily lives
• 3. The percentage of white evangelicals in the
  state.
• When extrapolated into the future it shows the
  year in which a similar vote to ban gay marriage
  would fail in each state