Marriage Equality USA

Stay Informed

Current Status

  • Civil marriage equality in effect at the state level as of 9 June 2015. (Same-sex couples may legally marry.)
  • 5 June 2015, Same-sex marriage will be allowed on Guam - Video from KUAM TV via YouTube
  • 4 June 2015, openly gay Vice Speaker of the Guam Legislature, Senator B.J. Cruz, has announced his introduction of a bill that would extend critical workplace protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The bill is expected to move in the coming weeks. 

NOTE REGARDING DATES/TIME: When stateside and reading news stories coming from Guam, please keep in mind that Guam is in the Chamorro Time Zone, which is 14 hours ahead of Eastern Time. 


HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

  • In 2009, there were several attempts to pass legislation that would recognized same-sex relationships. In June 2009, Bill 138 was introduced, which would have created Civil Unions granting gay and lesbian couples all the rights and obligations of heterosexual married spouses. That was followed by the introduction of Bill 185, a gay-inclusive domestic partnership bill. Bill 185 would have granted domestic partners all the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities under law, whether derived from statutes, administrative rules, court decisions, the common law, or any other source of civil law, that spouses receive. In August 2009, Bill 212 was introduced. Bill 212 was extremely diluted and would have created agreements between designated gay and lesbian couple beneficiaries,granting them 15 rights – centered mostly on hospital visitations. None of these bills passed. 
  • Following the 2013 SCOTUS ruling in United States v. Windsor, both the IRS and the Department of Labor (DOL) wrote that for their purposes the term "spouse" refers to any individual who is lawfully married under any state law, including individuals married to a person of the same sex who were legally married in a state that recognizes such marriages, but who are domiciled in a state that does not recognize such marriages. This applies to Guam.
  • 4 June 2015, Chief Judge Frances M. Tyndingco-Gatewood, federal judge for Guam District Court, ruled in favor of marriage for same-sex couples! See Aguero v. Calvo under LAWSUITS-RESOLVED below.

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