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Family and Marriage

The family is the building block of society. When marriages and families are healthy, communities thrive; when marriages break down, communities break down.

A Portrait of Family and Religion in America - Study illustrating the intact family that worships weekly is the greatest generator of human and social goods and least generator of social ills, and that the broken family that does not worship is the greatest generator of social ills and the least generator of social goods.

 
Heritage Research

The Marriage Debate

What Has Been Done?

 

1996

  • Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) passed

1998

  • Alaska (68%) and Hawaii (69%) pass marriage amendments

2000

  • April 19
    • Vermont approves the creation of same-sex unions, entitling gay couples to rights and benefits normally available to married couples.
  • Nebraska (70%) and Nevada (67%) pass marriage amendments

2003

  • November 18
    • Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health
      The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 that government attorneys "failed to identify any constitutionally adequate reason" to deny gay and lesbian couples the right to marry; gave the Massachusetts Legislature six months to rewrite the state's marriage laws in order to fix this

2004

  • 13 states pass marriage amendments:
    • Arkansas (75%), Georgia (77%) Kentucky (75%) Louisiana (78%) Michigan (59%) Mississippi (86%) Missouri (71%) Montana (66%) North Dakota (73%) Ohio (62%) Oklahoma (76%) Oregon (58%) Utah (66%)
  • February 4
    • The Massachusetts high court rules that onlyfull, equal marriage rights for gay couples, not civil unions, would be constitutional.
      • "The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal”—A bill creating only civil unions, not full marriage rights, would be "unconstitutional, inferior, and discriminatory status for same-sex couples."
  • March 2
    • Jason West, mayor of New Paltz, New York was charged with 19 criminal counts of solemnizing marriages without a license. West had solemnized a number of same-sex marriages in his town.
  • March 3
    • 3/3- New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer issues opinion that same sex marriage is illegal in NY because of “husband and wife” and “bride and groom” language in statute, but that same sex marriages from elsewhere must be recognized.
  • March 11
  • March 12
    • Oregon's attorney general issues an opinion on same-sex marriage, stating that issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples would contradict current state law.
    • Wisconsin State Senate voted to approve an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriages or even civil unions
  • May 14
    • U.S. Supreme Court declines to block municipal clerks in MA from issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples
  • May 17
    • Gay marriage officially legal in MA
  • July 17
  • July 22
    • U.S. House of Representatives approves legislation that would prohibit federal courts from overturning parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act
  • August 3
    • Missouri voters approve amendment, adding language to state constitution that "to be valid and recognized in this state a marriage shall exist only between a man and a woman"
  • August 4
    • Washington Superior Court judge in King County rules that state's DOMA unconstitutional.
  • August 12
    • California Supreme Court rules that San Francisco government officials "exceeded their authority" when they legalized same-sex marriage earlier this year, nullifies the marriages
  • August 17
    • Federal judge in Tacoma, Washington rules the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act constitutional
  • November
    • 13 states pass marriage amendments: 
       Arkansas (75%), Georgia (77%) Kentucky (75%) Louisiana (78%) Michigan (59%) Mississippi (86%) Missouri (71%) Montana (66%) North Dakota (73%) Ohio (62%) Oklahoma (76%) Oregon (58%) Utah (66%)

2005

  • Texas (75%) and Kansas (75%) pass marriage amendments
  • May 12
    • In Nebraska, the first state constitutional provision banning same-sex marriage to be ruled unconstitutional by a federal court in Nebraska.

      U.S. Distict Judge Joseph Bataillon ruled that the ban, known as Initiative 416, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

2006
 
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