BY AJ TRAGER
In the past year the United States has seen a large shift in marriage equality and the momentum isn't letting up – it's only getting stronger. This time last year 17 states had legalized same-sex marriage compared with 37 states today.
Nearly 40 marriage lawsuits were pending in the courts including Texas, Virginia and Idaho; marriage equality for Oklahoma and Nevada was just around the corner and Judge Bernard Friedman ruled in favor of April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse in DeBoer v Snyder, determining that Michigan's 2004 ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Public support for marriage equality has been on the rise at an almost unprecedented pace and national polls show that a solid majority of voters, roughly 63 percent as of February, now support the freedom to marry.
The country watched as states' bans dropped like flies as courts ruled in favor of marriage equality during 2014. The shift began with favorable federal court rulings in Oklahoma in January; Kentucky, Virginia and Texas followed in February; Michigan in March and Ohio in April; Arkansas, Idaho, Oregon and Pennsylvania in May; Wisconsin and Utah joined in June; Colorado, Florida, the 10th Circuit Court ruling for Oklahoma and the 4th Circuit Court ruling for Virginia in July; the 7th Circuit Court for Indiana and Wisconsin in September; the 9th Circuit Court ruling in October; and Mississippi and a District Court ruling for Arkansas in November. South Dakota and Alabama followed in January of 2015 and with Nebraska in March.
Today, 37 states and our nation's capital have marriage equality with nearly 72 percent of the U.S. population living in a state currently issuing marriage licenses for same-sex partners. Momentum for marriage equality has moved so fast in the last 12 months that 43 rulings have been issued mostly in favor of marriage equality – a number that couldn't have been predicted when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Windsor v United States, which shot down portions of the Defense of Marriage Act, a decision which many believe sped marriage equality up nationwide.
Legal teams from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee will present oral arguments at Supreme Court on April 28. The number of amicus briefs filed to SCOTUS shows how much support there is behind the legal teams. Over 200 first responders, 2,000 faith leaders from all 50 states and 226 mayors from 40 cities gathered to sign the amicus brief compiled by Freedom To Marry through its Mayors for the Freedom to Marry campaign. Efforts by the Human Rights Campaign through the "People's Brief" gathered signatures by 207,551 individuals from across the country calling for marriage equality to be the law of the land. Michigan and Ohio Democratic parties, along with 156 elected officials, former place holders and political organizations, filed a joint amicus brief in favor of same-sex marriages. Top names such as Coca-Cola Company, Goldman Sachs, Google and Morgan Stanley, Ben & Jerry's and sports teams such as the New England Patriots, the San Francisco Giants and the Tampa Bay Rays, were among the 379 companies in a business amicus brief.
March 21 marks the historic anniversary of Federal Judge Bernard Friedman's ruling in DeBoer v Snyder declaring Michigan's ban unconstitutional. In the wake of that decision, over 300 couples were married in Ingham, Muskegon, Oakland and Washtenaw counties before a stay was issued – a day that will be widely celebrated by the LGBT and ally communities around the state. In spite of the setback at the 6th Circuit in a Nov. 6, 2014 ruling, Michiganders are hopeful that the SCOTUS ruling will bring equality to all 50 states.
The ruling on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage is expected by the end June.
