![]() ![]() In 1998 the outlook of the rest of the country on to the same-sex marriage bans got to Hawaii, where voters approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in the state. Additionally, even if a state made same-sex marriage legal, couples still wouldn’t be able to file income taxes jointly, sponsor spouses for immigration benefits, or receive spousal Social Security payment etc. ![]() ![]() Even though DOMA did not ban same-sex marriage it provided that only heterosexual couples could be granted federal marriage benefits. In 1993 the highest court in Hawaii ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage may violate the state constitution’s Equal Protection Clause- the first time a state court has ever inched toward making same-sex marriage legal, however, the First Circuit court buried the ideas that decision propelled and in 1996 the US Congress added another blow by passing the Defense Marriage Act (DOMA). Three years later the District of Columbia also passed a domestic partnership law, granting same-sex couples a number of important benefits like the possibility of receiving a health care coverage if their partner was employed by the DC government. In 1981, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance that allowed homosexual couples and unmarried heterosexual couples to register for domestic partnership, which also granted hospital visitation rights and other benefits. In late 1980s and early 1990s same-sex couples were able to see some signs of hope on the marriage front. In 1973 Maryland became the first state to create a law that explicitly defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and other states were eager to adopt Maryland’s course (Virginia 1975, Florida, California and Wyoming 1977). Nelson the Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear the case about the denial of the marriage license application for same-sex couple “for want of a substantial federal question.” This ruling blocked federal courts from reviewing same-sex marriage cases for decades, leaving the decision solely in the hands of states. The decision influenced not only family law but also property law insurance, tax and business. In addition to giving same-sex couples an opportunity to get legally married the decision also positively influenced other aspects of same-sex couple’s family life, giving them adoption rights possibility to obtain employment and social security benefits as well as health care the ability to be a spouse’s next-of-kin for purposes of making medical decisions etc. Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito dissented. In this decision Justice Kennedy also declared that “the reason marriage is fundamental…apply with equal force to same-sex couples”, so they may “exercise the fundamental right to marry.” The majority decision was signed by Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan and Sotomayor. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy asserted that the right to marry 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 equal protection clause, by virtue of the close connection between liberty and equality. Hodges is a landmark case in which on June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States held, in 5-4 decision, 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.
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