As of today, same-sex couples can only be legally married in Canada, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands (and South Africa starting December 2006), and in the US state of Massachusetts. In the US, there are currently more than 1,500 rights that are being denied to same-sex couples.
For us, marriage equality is a critical social justice and equality issue. In Washington State, there is currently a decision pending on the state Supreme Court that may (or may not) declare the “Defense of Marriage Act” in the state unconstitutional. In the meantime there have been efforts in Congress to pass a Federal Marriage Amendment that would write discrimination into the Constitution by defining marriage to be between a man and a woman. So far those efforts have failed.
For further reading about marriage equality, please take a look at the following links:
- Get the facts from Marriage Equality USA
- Same-sex marriage in Wikipedia
There are also some great books on the issue:
- Why should you give a damn about gay marriage, by Davina Kotulski, PhD
- Why Marriage Matters : America, Equality, and Gay People’s Right to Marry, by Evan Wolfson
- Gay Marriage : Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America, by Jonathan Rauch
- The Commitment : Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family, by Dan Savage
- Marriage, a History : How Love Conquered Marriage, by Stephanie Coontz
