Gay Rights

Same-sex marriage

In North America, marriage is a restricted institution. It only permits one man and one woman to be joined in matrimony. It is likely to remain restricted for at least the foreseeable future. Gay or lesbian couples cannot be married -- except in the Netherlands.

As of early 2002, about 25 states have enacted "Defense of Marriage Acts" (DOMAs) that ban same-sex marriage. Another six have similar legislation pending. During 2000, 61 percent of California voters supported Proposition 22--defining marriage as being restricted to one man and one woman. However, Proposition 22 and most of the DOMA laws only control the institution of marriage. Most DOMA laws do not prevent a legislature from creating a new set of laws, which cover a different type of relationship: civil unions.

This legislature would retain the existing system of marriage for heterosexual couples -- for one man and one woman -- intact. Heterosexual couples who plan to marry in the future would find that nothing is changed; the regulations, privileges, obligations, and benefits would be the same as always. Nothing would change for existing heterosexual couples that were married in the past. States typically grant about 400 rights and privileges to each married couple. The federal government separately contributes an additional 1,000 benefits to them.

A state legislature could then create a similar system, usually called civil unions, for same-sex couples -- i.e. for two men or for two women. These would grant some or all of the state benefits that have been previously granted only to married couples. But the over 1,000 federal rights and privileges would be withheld from "civil unionized" couples because of the federal DOMA law which prohibits the federal government from recognizing civil unions.

2001: On APR-1, Dutch same-sex couples joined with opposite-sex couples in being able to obtain marriage licenses from the state. This is the first time in recent history that gays and lesbians have been allowed to marry in any country.

On JUN-1, same-sex couples in Nova Scotia, Canada, became eligible to register their domestic partnership at the province's Office of Vital Statistics.

On JUL-12: The Alliance for Marriage has proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. It reads: "Marriage in

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