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Based on current laws on the books, these states are right now the best for gay couples:
Massachusetts (gay marriage)
California (gay marriage)
New Hampshire (civil union)
Vermont (civil union)
Connecticut (civil union)
New Jersey (civil union)
Oregon (domestic partnership rights)
Hawaii (domestic partnership rights)
Washington (domestic partnership rights)
New York (recognizes out of state marriages for gay people and NYC has domestic partnership rights)
I feel the times are changing--with the current oldest generations fading away, and new ones cropping up. More states are bound to change their laws--making them friendlier to gay couples/people.
Which states will be next? Which states will be last?
My guess would be Illinois/Michigan/Rhode Island would be next.
Last would be a guess of Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, the Dakotas, etc.
Iowa's in a very weird place with same-sex marriage right now.
Last August, a Polk County (Des Moines) judge ruled the state's prior "defense of marriage" bill was unconstitutional. As soon as the news broke, there was a mad dash of couples trying to get married (in the one Iowa county that would issue licenses) while the opportunity was there....in the four hours before the judge put a stay on the ruling, only one couple got all the preparations in place--including getting a waiver for the three-day waiting period.
So now, there's one legally married same-sex couple in Iowa. A year on and the Supreme Court is still looking at taking the case, the state Republicans are still trying to pass a new "defense of marriage" bill (they tried last year, but as they are the minority party, they failed), and our Democrat Governor is still against same-sex marriage in the state.
So I don't really know where it's headed in Iowa right now.
Iowa's in a very weird place with same-sex marriage right now.
Last August, a Polk County (Des Moines) judge ruled the state's prior "defense of marriage" bill was unconstitutional. As soon as the news broke, there was a mad dash of couples trying to get married (in the one Iowa county that would issue licenses) while the opportunity was there....in the four hours before the judge put a stay on the ruling, only one couple got all the preparations in place--including getting a waiver for the three-day waiting period.
So now, there's one legally married same-sex couple in Iowa. A year on and the Supreme Court is still looking at taking the case, the state Republicans are still trying to pass a new "defense of marriage" bill (they tried last year, but as they are the minority party, they failed), and our Democrat Governor is still against same-sex marriage in the state.
So I don't really know where it's headed in Iowa right now.
Interesting...I didn't know that about Iowa. Very cool. I believe CA set a precedent though. The nation usually closely begins to follow CA's lead in a lot of respects. Hopefully this will be a pattern for other states to follow.
I saw on the news last night that NJ polls show a majority approve of gay marriage by a wide margin these days so I'd imagine they're not far from have equal rights like MA and CA.
Iowa is surprisingly "nice" to gays. The state last year amended its civil rights laws to include gays/lesbians with easy passing in the senate and vocal support from the governor.
It was also one of the first states to extend state benefits to same-sex couples, also with no protest or challenges in court, and when religious groups wanted to amend the constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, the state congress and governor gave a very quick and firm "no" response quieting the issue.
The University of Iowa was also one of the very first schools in the nation to provide health insurance benifits to gay couples way back in the 1980's. When Iowa did it way back then, it caused a strong push in Universities all across the Midwest using it as an example.
Location: from houstoner to bostoner to new yorker to new jerseyite ;)
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Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc
Interesting...I didn't know that about Iowa. Very cool. I believe CA set a precedent though. The nation usually closely begins to follow CA's lead in a lot of respects. Hopefully this will be a pattern for other states to follow.
Yeah, I'm surprised to hear about Iowa as well.
Massachusetts and Vermont started the craze, though, I think. California is actually a bit late for once.
Don't count on Texas joining the ranks anytime soon... or later, either, for that matter.
If Ohio could allow gays in, I'm fairly certain that so could Indiana and Missouri. Missouri is actually surprisingly friendly towards gay people. I forget but somewhere in a poll that I saw it showed that the majority of Missourians did not really have a major problem with gays.
If Ohio could allow gays in, I'm fairly certain that so could Indiana and Missouri. Missouri is actually surprisingly friendly towards gay people. I forget but somewhere in a poll that I saw it showed that the majority of Missourians did not really have a major problem with gays.
Well, it'd be a good thing if either of those states would change their laws. Slowly but surely I think states will jump on board due to more and more pressure from citizens.
A domestic partnership bill lost in New Mexico by a hair this year and I expect it will be passed in the near future. Recently some group or organization (I wish I could remember the specifics) named NM the 2nd most gay friendly state in the country after NY.
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