Last Monday, a federal judge declared Oregon’s ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional, making the state one of nineteen to recognize gay marriage as legitimate. Oregon joins the ranks of Washington, Hawaii, and New York in this recent decision, though most of the country still has yet to legalize gay marriage.
Massachusetts was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, doing so in November of 2003. Prior to this, same-sex marriages were not federally recognized, and same-sex relationships were even considered illegal in some states before this ruling. In the 11 years since Massachusetts took this giant step in the right direction, eighteen other states have jumped on board, as well as our nation’s capitol, Washington DC.
Before Oregon, Michigan had been the last state to legalize gay marriage. Since Monday, Pennsylvania has also had a similar ruling by a federal judge, declaring that a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. This makes for twenty states that have legalized gay marriage, though 29 others are facing lawsuits from residences in regard to their ban on or non-recognition of same sex marriage.
As of May 24th, at least 205 gay couples had applied for marriage certificates in the state of Oregon, and more requests are coming in. In certain counties, courts began handing out marriage certificates just minutes after the ruling came in. Some couples camped out in front of their local courthouse, while others made wedding plans as soon as they knew they could.
This last week has certainly marked significant progress in the development of human rights in America. If this trend continues, every American state will have legalized gay marriage by September. If not, Oregon might see a bit of traffic coming its way.