Amendment for gay marriage
Marriage equality
Decriminalisation of homosexuality
From the s the socially progressive South Australian Labor government wanted to repeal laws criminalising homosexuality.
However, it was not until the May murder in Adelaide of Dr George Duncan, a law lecturer and gay man, that premier, Don Dunstan, assessed that the people mood was receptive to reform.
Dr Duncan’s murder led to revelations of how commonplace violence and harassment against homosexual people was.
South Australia’s Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, was enacted on 2 October It was a landmark in LGBTQIA+ rights in Australia because it fully decriminalised lesbian acts.
Equivalent law reform was passed by the Australian Capital Region in , Victoria in , the Northern Territory in , New South Wales in , Western Australia in , Queensland in and Tasmania in
The Journey to Marriage Equality in the Combined States
The road to nationwide marriage equality was a long one, spanning decades of United States history and culminating in victory in June Throughout the long fight for marriage equality, HRC was at the forefront.
Volunteer with HRC
From gathering supporters in small towns across the country to rallying in front of the Supreme Court of the Combined States, we gave our all to ensure every person, regardless of whom they love, is known equally under the law.
A Growing Call for Equality
Efforts to legalize same-sex marriage began to pop up across the country in the s, and with it challenges on the state and national levels. Civil unions for homosexual couples existed in many states but created a separate but equal common. At the federal level, couples were denied access to more than 1, federal rights and responsibilities associated with the institution, as well as those denied by their given state. The Defense of Marriage Act was signed into law in and defined marriage by the federal government as between a man and
MAP Report: The National Patchwork of Marriage Laws Underneath Obergefell
Rebecca Farmer, Movement Advancement Project
rebecca@ | ext
As the Respect for Marriage Proceed moves through Congress, MAP’s March report on the landscape of varying state marriage laws around the country is a resource. Guide researchers are on hand to answer questions and our infographics are available for use.
MAP’s report, Underneath Obergefell, explores the patchwork of marriage laws around the nation. The report highlights the fact that a majority of states still hold existing laws on the books that would ban marriage for same-sex couples – even though those laws are currently unenforceable under the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell.
If the U.S. Supreme Court were to revisit the Obergefell decision, the ability of queer couples to unite could again tumble to the states, where a majority of states still have in place both bans in the law and in state constitutions.
The policy
Obergefell v. Hodges
Overview
Obergefell v. Hodges is a landmark case in which on June 26, , the Supreme Court of the Together States held, in choice, that state bans on same-sex marriage and on recognizing same sex marriages duly performed in other jurisdictions are unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy asserted that the right to wedding is a fundamental right “inherent in the liberty of the person” and is therefore protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits the states from depriving any person of “life, liberty or property without the due process of law.” The marriage right is also guaranteed by the same protection clause, by virtue of the close connection between liberty and equality. In this decision Justice Kennedy also declared that “the reason marriage is fundamental…apply with equal oblige to same-sex couples”, so they may “exercise the fundamental right to marry.” The majority decision wa