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What states legalized gay marriage first

20 years ago, same-sex marriage in Massachusetts opened a door for LGBTQ rights nationwide

Bonauto, who has been an attorney with GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, or GLAD, since , said she was a “mess” of emotions at her clients’ wedding and started crying before the ceremony even started. But the most powerful moment, she recalled, came when the minister officially married the couple. 

“In that packed church that day, when the minister said, ‘By the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ — those are words no one had heard before — the place went wild,” Bonauto told NBC News. “I felt chills. I proceed to feel chills when I hear that, because that is just such a statement of belonging in this culture. It’s not the only one, but boy, it was certainly a statement of non-belonging to be excluded from marriage.”

Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall wrote in the majority opinion that paved the way for Compton and Wilson’s wedding, that marriage is “a vital social institution” that “imposes weighty legal, financial, and social obligations.”

“The question before u

Date Same Sex Marriage Legalized By State

All 50 states in the United States have legalized lgbtq+ marriage. Below are the dates when each state did so. On June 26, , the Supreme Court governed that same-sex marriage is a right guaranteed by the Constitution, thus making same-sex marriage legal in the 13 states that acquire not legalized lgbtq+ marriage up to that point.

By Date
Rank
State Name
Date Same Sex Marriage Legalized
1
MassachusettsMay 17,
2
ConnecticutNovember 12,
3
IowaApril 24,
4
VermontSeptember 1,
5
New HampshireJanuary 1,
6
New YorkJuly 24,
7
WashingtonDecember 9,
8
MaineDecember 29,
9
MarylandJanuary 1,
10
CaliforniaJune 28,
11
DelawareJuly 1,
T
MinnesotaAugust 1,
T
Rhode IslandAugust 1,
14
New JerseyOctober 21,
15
HawaiiDecember 2,
16
New MexicoDecember 19,
17
OregonMay 19,
18
PennsylvaniaMay 20,
19
IllinoisJune 1,
T
IndianaOctober 6,
T
OklahomaOctober 6,

Same-sex marriage is made legal nationwide with Obergefell v. Hodges decision

June 26, marks a major milestone for civil rights in the United States, as the Supreme Court announces its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. By one vote, the court rules that same-sex marriage cannot be banned in the Merged States and that all same-sex marriages must be recognized nationwide, finally granting same-sex couples equal rights to heterosexual couples under the law.

In , just two years after the Stonewall Riots that unofficially marked the beginning of the struggle for homosexual rights and marriage equality, the Minnesota Supreme Court had found same-sex marriage bans constitutional, a precedent which the Supreme Court had never challenged. As homosexuality gradually became more accepted in American tradition, the conservative backlash was strong enough to violence President Bill Clinton to sign the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), prohibiting the recognition of lgbtq+ marriages at the federal level, into law in

Over the next decade, many states banned gay marriage, while Vermont institute

Marriage Equality Around the World

The Human Rights Campaign tracks developments in the legal recognition of same-sex marriage around the world. Working through a worldwide network of HRC global alumni and partners, we lift up the voices of community, national and regional advocates and share tools, resources, and lessons learned to allow movements for marriage equality.

Current State of Marriage Equality

There are currently 38 countries where same-sex marriage is legal: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay. 

These countries have legalized marriage equality through both legislation and court decisions. 

Countries that Legalized Marriage Equality in

Liechtenstein: On May 16, , Liechtenstein's gove