Marriage Equality USA

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Current Status

  • Yay, Tanco! Same-sex couples CAN legally marry! Civil marriage equality cannot legally be denied at the state level, via the Supreme Court of the United States, as of 26 June 2015.
  • 2 July 2015, and, in Decatur Co., Entire Tenn. County Clerk’s Office Resigns Over Same-Sex Marriage Licenses - From WKRN Channel 9 ABC News
  • 27 June 2015, Even After Supreme Court Ruling, These States Are Still Resisting Same-Sex Marriage - By Casey Quinlan, ThinkProgress
  • On 26 June 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled FOR marriage equality and that same-gender couples have the constitutional right to marry in all 50 states and all U.S. territories.

    HISTORICAL REFERENCE

    • Tennessee’s ban applies to both same-sex marriage in the first instance and state recognition of already-existing same-sex marriages that were preformed legally outside of TN (the "non-recognition clause").
    • On 5 August 2014, Roane County Circuit Judge Russell E. Simmons, Jr. in Kingston, TN became the first judge to uphold a state ban on marriage equality, in Borman v. Piles-Borman, since the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Windsor.
    • 7 November 2014, couples from the Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee marriage cases all will be seeking SCOTUS review.
    • 14 November 2014, Tennessee Plaintiffs filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari asking SCOTUS to reverse 6th Circuit decision. See Tanco below.
    • Constitutional ban against marriage equality from 2006 until 26 June 2015, per Tennessee Amendment 1.
    • 26 June 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States issued their decision in Obergefell, the marriage case, ruling on the side of love and marriage! Majority opinion by Justice Kennedy, 5-4. Per @SCOTUSblog, the Court's opinion relies on the dual rationales of fundamental rights AND equal protection and seems to go out of its way not to state a standard of scrutiny. "...the majority opinion rejects the claim that marriage is about procreation, even while saying that protecting children of same-sex couples supports the Court's ruling: "This is not to say that the right to marry is less meaningful for those who do not or cannot have children. An ability, desire, or promise to procreate is not and has not been a prerequisite for a valid marriage in any State."

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