• Civil marriage equality cannot legally be denied at the state level, via the Supreme Court of the United States, as of 26 June 2015.
• 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.
  • MARRIAGE EQUALITY FAQ
  • If a marriage license is refused to you, please contact one of the following legal organizations immediately!
    
    ACLU
    https://www.aclu.org/about/affiliates?redirect=affiliates
    212.549.2500 

    GLAD
    http://www.GLADAnswers.org/
    617.426.1350

    Lambda Legal
    http://www.lambdalegal.org/marriage-equality-tracker
    212.809.8585

    NCLR
    http://www.nclrights.org/legal-help
    415.392.6257

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

• Many people don't realize it used to be legal in some places to sterilize those identified as, or perceived to be, homosexual or "perverted" in another way related to sexual orientation or gender (transgender, Intersex). In addition to the usual sodomy and vagrancy laws used to arrest and punish gay people, in 1927 the ND law initially designed to permit the sterilization of mentally and physically disabled inmates (abhorrent in itself) was expanded to include anyone who the State authorities believed might be "habitual criminals, moral degenerates and sexual perverts." The forced sterilization law wasn't repealed until 1965.
• No provision of North Dakota law explicitly addresses discrimination on the bases of sexual orientation or gender identity. Nor does North Dakota law address hate crimes based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
• In 2012, Joshua Boschee was elected to the North Dakota State legislature. Representative Boschee is the first openly gay person to win a legislative seat in North Dakota.
• Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage from 2004 until 26 June 2015, per North Dakota Constitutional Measure 1. Similar restrictions also appeared in the state statutes.