Survey of State Marriage Laws Related to Same-Sex Marriage

Survey of State Marriage Laws Related to Same-Sex Marriage

Legal Sidebari

Survey of State Marriage Laws Related to
Same-Sex Marriage
November 22, 2022
In 2015, the Supreme Court held in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples may exercise the
fundamental right to marry in all states and that states must accordingly recognize marriages validly
performed out-of-state. Many states still have unenforceable constitutional amendments or state statutes
that ban marriage for same-sex couples. This Sidebar provides, in table form, a survey of current state
constitutional amendments and state statutes that either prohibit or allow same-sex marriage. Other
compilations may categorize the constitutional or statutory text differently; for example, two states do not
explicitly define “marriage.” The Sidebar does not discuss or address the effect of judicial opinions, like
Obergefell or prior state supreme court or lower federal court rulings, on these state statutes.
The table also provides a list of various state provisions that concern religious protections relating to
marriage. This includes laws that provide that a religious official or organization may not be required to
solemnize a marriage if doing so would conflict with or violate a religious tenet.
Table 1. Survey of State Constitution Amendments and State Statutes Either Prohibiting
or Allowing Same-Sex Marriage
State
Constitutional
State
Amendments
State Statutes
Constitutional
Prohibiting
Prohibiting
Amendments
State Statutes
Religious
Same-Sex
Same-Sex
Allowing Same-
Allowing Same-
Liberty
State
Marriage
Marriage
Sex Marriage
Sex Marriage
Protections
Alabama
Ala. Const. art. I,
Ala. Code § 30-1-

§ 36.03
19

Alaska
Alaska Const. art.
Alaska Stat. §§

I, § 25
25.05.011, .013

Arizona
Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§

Ariz. Const. art.
25-101(C),
XXX, § 1
-125(A)

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State
Constitutional
State
Amendments
State Statutes
Constitutional
Prohibiting
Prohibiting
Amendments
State Statutes
Religious
Same-Sex
Same-Sex
Allowing Same-
Allowing Same-
Liberty
State
Marriage
Marriage
Sex Marriage
Sex Marriage
Protections
Arkansas
Ark. Const.

amend. LXXXIII,
Ark. Code Ann.
§ 1
§§ 9-11-109, -208

California
Cal Const. art. I,
Cal. Fam. Code §
Cal. Fam. Code §
§ 7.5

300
400(a)
Colorado
Colo. Const. art.
Colo. Rev. Stat. §

II, § 31
14-2-104

Connecticut
Conn. Gen. Stat.
Conn. Gen. Stat.

§ 46b-20(4)
§§ 46b-22b, -35a
Delaware
Del. Code Ann.
Del. Code Ann.

tit. 13, § 129
tit. 13, § 106(f)
Florida
Fla. Const. art. I,
Fla. Stat. Ann. §
Fla. Stat. Ann.
§ 27
741.212

§ 761.061
Georgia
Ga. Const. art. I,
Ga. Code Ann. §

§ IV, para. I
19-3-3.1

Hawaiia
Haw. Rev. Stat.
Haw. Rev. Stat.
Ann. §§ 572-12.1,

Ann. § 572-1
.2
Idaho
Idaho Const. art.
Idaho Code §§

III, § 28
32-201, -209

Il inois
750 Il . Comp.
750 Il . Comp.
Stat. Ann. 5/201,
Stat. Ann.

80/10
5/209(a-5)-(a-10)
Indiana
Ind. Code Ann. §

31-11-1-1

Iowa
Iowa Code §

595.2(1)

Kansas
Kan. Const. art.
Kan. Stat. Ann. §

XV, § 16
23-2501

Kentucky
Ky. Rev. Stat. §§

402.005,
Ky. Const. § 233a
.020(1)(d)

Louisiana
La. Const. art.
La. Civ. Code

XII, § 15
Ann. art. 86, 89

Maine
Me. Rev. Stat. tit.
Me. Rev. Stat. tit.

19-A, § 650-A
19-A, § 655(3)
Maryland
Md. Code Ann.,

Fam. Law § 2-201
Massachusettsb

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State
Constitutional
State
Amendments
State Statutes
Constitutional
Prohibiting
Prohibiting
Amendments
State Statutes
Religious
Same-Sex
Same-Sex
Allowing Same-
Allowing Same-
Liberty
State
Marriage
Marriage
Sex Marriage
Sex Marriage
Protections
Michigan
Mich. Comp.

Laws Serv. §§
Mich. Const. art.
551.1, .271(2),
I, § 25
.272

Minnesota
Minn. Stat. Ann.
Minn. Stat. Ann.
§§ 517.01,
§ 517.09(Subd. 2)-

.201(Subd. 2)
(Subd. 3)
Mississippi
Miss. Const. art.
Miss. Code Ann. §
Miss. Code Ann.
XIV, § 263A
93-1-1(2)

§ 11-62-5(1)(a)
Missouri
Mo. Const. art. I,
Mo. Rev. Stat. §

§ 33
451.022

Montana
Mont. Code Ann.

Mont. Const. art.
§§ 40-1-103, -
XIII, § 7
401(1)(d)

Nebraska
Neb. Const. art. I,

§ 29

Nevada
Nev. Const. art.
Nev. Rev. Stat.
Nev. Const. art.

1, § 21(1)
Ann. § 122.020
1, § 21(2)
New Hampshire
N.H. Rev. Stat.
N.H. Rev. Stat.

Ann. § 457:1-a
Ann. § 457:37
New Jersey
N.J. Stat. § 37:1-

1(c)
New Mexicob

New York
N.Y. Dom. Rel.
N.Y. Dom. Rel.
Law §§ 10-b,

Law § 10-a
11(1)-(1-a)
North Carolina
N.C. Const. art.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§
N.C. Gen. Stat.
XIV, § 6
51-1, -1.2

§ 51-5.5(a)
North Dakota
N.D. Const. art.
N.D. Cent. Code

XI, § 28
§ 14-03-01

Ohio
Ohio Const. art.
Ohio Rev. Code

XV, § 11
Ann. § 3101.01

Oklahoma
Okla. Const. art.
Okla. Stat. tit. 43,
Okla. Stat. tit. 43,
II, § 35
§ 3.1

§ 7.1
Oregon
Or. Const. art.
Or. Rev. Stat.

XV, § 5a

Ann. § 106.345
Pennsylvania
23 Pa. Cons. Stat.

Ann. §§ 1102,

1704

Rhode Island
R.I. Gen. Laws §
R.I. Gen. Laws

15-1-1
§ 15-3-6.1
South Carolina
S.C. Const. art.
S.C. Code Ann. §§

XVII, § 15
20-1-10, -15

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State
Constitutional
State
Amendments
State Statutes
Constitutional
Prohibiting
Prohibiting
Amendments
State Statutes
Religious
Same-Sex
Same-Sex
Allowing Same-
Allowing Same-
Liberty
State
Marriage
Marriage
Sex Marriage
Sex Marriage
Protections
South Dakota
S.D. Codified

S.D. Const. art.
Laws §§ 25-1-1,
XXI, § 9
-38

Tennessee
Tenn. Const. art.
Tenn. Code Ann.

XI, § 18
§ 36-3-113

Texas
Tex. Const. art. I,
Tex. Fam. Code §
Tex. Fam. Code
§ 32
2.001

§§ 2.601, .602
Utah
Utah Code Ann.
Utah Const. art. I, Utah Code Ann. §
§§ 63G-20-201,
§ 29
30-1-4.1

-301
Vermont
Vt. Stat. Ann. tit.
Vt. Stat. Ann. tit.
9, § 4502(l), tit.

15, § 8
18, § 5144(c)
Virginia
Va. Const. art. I, §

15-A

Washington
Wash. Rev. Code
Wash. Rev. Code
Ann.
Ann. §
§§ 26.04.010(4)-

26.04.010(1), (3)
(7), .020(5)-(6)
West Virginia
W. Va. Code §

48-2-603

Wisconsin
Wis. Const. art.
Wis. Stat. Ann. §

XIII, § 13
765.01

Wyoming
Wyo. Stat. Ann. §

20-1-101

Source: Based on a search, conducted on October 28, 2022, of state constitutions and state statutes in the Lexis+
subscription database for the terms marriage AND (man OR woman OR male OR female OR husband OR wife OR individual OR
person OR gender OR sex) and (marriage AND relig*) AND (freedom OR liberty OR “free exercise” OR required).
a. The Hawaii constitution grants the state legislature “the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples” (Haw.
Const. art. I, § 23).
b. Massachusetts and New Mexico do not define marriage in either their state constitution or state statutes.

Author Information

Laura Deal

Law Librarian

Congressional Research Service
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