Minnesota House Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill on the Eve of the Kerwin's Return to the States

We will be heading back to Minnesota in June. Minnesota was the first state in which a case relating to same-sex marriage faced a court.  On May 18, 1970 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jack Baker and Michael McConnell applied for a marriage license in Hennepin County. It was denied and the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the denial (See Baker v. Nelson). 

Now, hopefully, it will be the 12th state to adopt same-sex marriage. 

For those of you not living in the US, same-sex marriage there is a very complicated issue.  It is just not as much of an issue in Europe or elsewhere in the world even in Catholic Ireland (where the sticking conservative points seem to be abortion and contraception which, arguably, may be much more significant). 

Marriage for same-sex couples is a rapidly changing environment (two states passed gay marriage laws THIS week and Minnesota is on the verge). The legal status for same-sex relationships varies across states. Even within states, rights vary across time. To make it even more complicated, many jurisdictions within states have offered varying degrees of legal relationship recognition that have also varied over time. Lastly, states are not consistent in the manner or degree to which they recognize (or refuse to recognize) relationship recognition granted in other states.

As of this writing (May 2013) eleven states and Washington DC have legalized same-sex marriage in the United States. These states include (with dates that the law was enacted in parentheses) Connecticut (2008), Delaware (2013), Iowa (2009), Maine (2012), Maryland (2012), Massachusetts (2004), New Hampshire (2010), New York (2011), Rhode Island (2013), Vermont (2009) and Washington (2012).  

At the Federal level the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was enacted in 1996 and prevents the federal government from recognizing legal same-sex marriages at the state level. The act furthermore allows each state to refuse recognition of same-sex marriages in other states. Different administrations have interpreted and upheld DOMA differently and even the Obama Administration has changed its attitude toward the act over the past five years. 

DOMA has been found unconstitutional in eight federal courts, including two federal appeals courts.  Five of these cases are pending review by the Supreme Court. On December 7, 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court said that it will accept two of the DOMA and Proposition 8 cases presented to the Court. These hearings are occurring right now and a decision is expected in June of 2013.