Want to know what states allow gay marriage? Here’s what you need to know

History of Gay Marriage States

Before 1993, marriage was not a focus of the gay rights movement. Indeed, rights for gay marriage were so farfetched that nobody really made a big deal about it. Then, in 1993, a Hawaii court said that the state did not have a compelling reason to deny gay marriage rights.

Because of the Hawaii decision, the federal government stepped in and denied the right to gay marriage three years later in 1996 with the Defense of Marriage Act.

Then, in 2003, Massachusetts became the first state to institute gay marriage rights. Five states have followed: Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Iowa, and New York. Besides those states, gay marriage is also available in Washington D.C. And then there’s California: gay marriages in that state are valid if performed before Proposition 8 was passed.

State #1: Massachusetts

Gay marriage rights came to the state of Massachusetts through a court case, Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, decided on May 17, 2004. In that case, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts said that it was unconstitutional for the state to disallow gay marriages.

Not only was Massachusetts the first state to allow gay marriage, but it was the sixth place anywhere to allow it.

State #2: Connecticut

The second state to allow gay marriage also did so through a state Supreme Court case, Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, decided October 10, 2008.

Three years before this case, Connecticut actually became the second state to legalize civil unions. But some gay couples sued the state, saying that civil unions were not the same as marriages and that the state must provide marriage, not just civil unions. They won. 

State #3: Iowa

Adding to the list of states with gay marriage rights through the courts, gay marriage was legalized in Iowa through a court case decided on April 3, 2009. The Supreme Court said that Iowa had no important interest in disallowing gay marriages in the state.

State #4: Vermont

Unlike the other states, Vermont legalized gay marriage through legislation, not through the courts. Just like Connecticut, the state first allowed civil unions, though this time as far back as 2000.

Then, on April 6, 2009, the legislature passed a law to allow gay marriage in the state. Although the governor immediately vetoed the bill (as expected at the time), the legislature overrode the veto.

State #5: New Hampshire

Gay marriage rights in this state came on January 1, 2010, just 17 months after the state legalized civil unions. Since then, there have been two attempts to add a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in the state, but both attempts in the state house of representatives.

State #6: New York

The latest gay marriage state has twice as many gay couples as all the other five states combines. This state legalized gay marriage on June 24, 2011, attracting much media attention.

New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, spearheaded the initiative to legalize gay marriage in the state. A bill to legalize gay marriage had passed the state’s House two times before, but failed in the state Senate. Finally, in 2011, it passed both chambers of the state Congress.