Same-sex Marriage as a Judicial and Legislative Process: Victory, Defeat, and a New Strategy for Social Change

In terms of social change, the debate concerning same-sex marriage is a relatively new phenomenon. For those uninvolved with the battle for same-sex marriage, the issue only became relevant in the 1990s. As Karen O’Connor and Alixandra Yanus explain in their essay “’Til Death – or the Supreme Court – Do Us Part, ” “the issue of gay marriage in the courts first leapt onto the public agenda in December 1990 when three homosexual couples...took the unprecedented step of applying for marriage licenses in the state of Hawaii.”1 From that point forward the issue of same-sex marriage, and gay relationships in general, leapt into the public consciousness and led to a frenzy of court cases, marriage amendments, and Defense of Marriage Acts (DOMAs). Vermont and Massachusetts would emerge as the primary protectors of gay couples, while other states would settle for amendments banning relationship recognition, an obvious setback for the national movement. Each state traveled a different path before settling on a final policy for their citizens, but the movement relied largely on judicial rulings and, to some extent, legislative lobbying. The history of same-sex marriage in the United States has shown that a widening definition of social change, reflecting a consideration for many relevant political actors including the judiciary and the legislature, can clearly achieve lasting gains