In an announcement fraught with social, legal and political implications, Mr. Bush urged Congress to act on the amendment quickly and send it on to the state legislatures. Quick action is essential, he said, to bring clarity to the law and protect husband-and-wife marriages from a few "activist judges. Kerry of Massachusetts, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, called an attempt to find "a wedge issue to divide the American people. Two-thirds of each house of Congress would have to approve the proposed amendment. It would then have to be approved by at least three-fourths of the state legislatures, or 38, to become part of the Constitution.

Timeline of same-sex marriage



Conversion Therapy | GLAAD
In response to court action in a number of states, the United States federal government and a number of state legislatures passed or attempted to pass legislation either prohibiting or allowing same-sex marriage or other types of same-sex unions. Hodges that a fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by the Fourteenth Amendment , and that states must allow same-sex marriage. Section 3 of DOMA defines "marriage" and "spouse" for purposes of both federal law and any ruling, regulation, or interpretation by an administrative bureau or agency of the United States government. In United States v. Windsor , the Supreme Court was asked to determine the constitutionality of Section 3 of DOMA, which defines marriage for federal purposes as the union of a man and a woman.


Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015)
Prior to their decision, same-sex marriage was already legal in 37 states and Washington DC, but was banned in the remaining Proponents of legal gay marriage contend that gay marriage bans are discriminatory and unconstitutional, and that same-sex couples should have access to all the benefits enjoyed by different-sex couples. Opponents contend that marriage has traditionally been defined as being between one man and one woman, and that marriage is primarily for procreation. Read more background….



One of the biggest struggles was same sex marriage. Since that time, some states have controlled and stated that marriage can only happen among a woman and a man and other states have allowed. In April , the American Psychiatric Association even labeled homosexuality as a mental disorder. Today, same sex relationships have been normalized and live life as ordinary people, yet treated as second-class citizens.