An issue that has been central to the LGBT rights movement since the late 1980s issame-sex marriage. At the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, recognition of lesbian and gay relationships was a primary demand made by demonstrators. Indeed, many protestors participated in a mass wedding in front of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to highlight the ways in which U.S. tax code benefits married heterosexual couples. Because they were denied the right to marry, gay and lesbian couples could not file taxes jointly, often could not share custody of children, and lacked hospital visitation rights and rights of inheritance, among other benefits of marriage.
In response to same sex couples’ attempts to gain state marriage licenses, the U.S. Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996. DOMA defined marriage as between one man and one woman in federal law, meaning that the federal government would not confer benefits to same-sex couples granted marriage licenses by states. It additionally stated that states did not need to recognize same-sex marriages granted by other states. Nonetheless, by the early 2000s, many states began to consider legalizing same-sex marriage. The first to do so was Massachusetts in 2004. Since then, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont have followed suit. Other states have passed laws allowing for same-sex civil unions. Civil unions provide the legal benefits of marriage to same-sex couples, but not the title of marriage. At present, thirty-one states have passed constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, defining marriage within their state as between a man and a woman. Court cases challenging the legality of these bans are currently underway, as are legal challenges to the constitutionality of DOMA. Challenges to bans on same-sex marriage contend that laws prohibiting same-sex marriage are discriminatory.
