Same-sex marriage in Alabama

Part of the LGBT rights series
Marriage

Recognized

Civil unions or registered partnerships but not marriage
Minimal recognition
See also
Notes
  1. ^ a b Performed in the Netherlands proper (including the Caribbean Netherlands), as well as in Aruba and Curaçao. May be registered in Sint Maarten in such cases, but the rights of marriage are not guaranteed.
  2. ^ Neither performed nor recognized in Niue, Tokelau, or the Cook Islands.
  3. ^ Neither performed nor recognized in six British Overseas Territories.
  4. ^ a b Neither performed nor recognized in some tribal nations. Recognized but not performed in several other tribal nations and American Samoa.
  5. ^ Registered foreign marriages confer all marriage rights. Domestic common-law marriages confer most rights of marriage. Domestic civil marriage recognized by some cities.
  6. ^ a b c d e The Coman v. Romania ruling of the European Court of Justice obliges the state to provide residency rights for the foreign spouses of EU citizens. Some member states, including Romania, do not follow the ruling.
  7. ^ A "declaration of family relationship" is available in several of Cambodia's communes which may be useful in matters such as housing, but is not legally binding.
  8. ^ Guardianship agreements, conferring some limited legal benefits, including decisions about medical and personal care.
  9. ^ Inheritance, guardianship rights, and residency rights for foreign spouses of legal residents.
  10. ^ Courts have recognised guru–shishya, nata pratha or maitri karar–type contractual relationships, but they are not legally binding.
  11. ^ Some cities and prefectures issue partnership certificates, but they are not legally binding.
  12. ^ Marriages conducted abroad between a Namibian national and a foreign spouse recognized for residency rights.
  13. ^ Hospital visitation rights through a "legal representative" status.
  1. ^ a b Not yet in effect.
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Same-sex marriage has been legal in Alabama since June 26, 2015, in accordance with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. Not all counties immediately complied with the ruling, copying behavior from the civil rights era when they had refused to perform interracial marriages.[1] A year after the Supreme Court ruling, twelve counties would either issue licenses to no one or only to opposite-sex couples. By 2017, this number had dropped to only eight counties, with all eight refusing to issue licenses to anyone. In May 2019, the Alabama Legislature passed a bill replacing the option that counties issue marriage licenses and perform marriage ceremonies with the requirement of counties to record marriage certificates. Subsequently, all counties complied and announced on August 29, 2019 that they would record marriage certificates for interracial and same-sex couples. Previously, Alabama had banned the licensing of same-sex marriages and the recognition of such marriages from other jurisdictions by executive order in 1996, by statute in 1998, and by constitutional amendment in June 2006.

Before the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell on June 26, 2015, which held that the U.S. Constitution requires every U.S. state to recognize and license same-sex marriage, the legal status of same-sex marriage in Alabama had been the subject of a long legal battle.[2] On January 23, 2015, Judge Callie V.S. Granade[a] of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama[b] ruled in Searcy v. Strange that Alabama's refusal to license and recognize same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. She ordered the Attorney General, Luther Strange, to stop enforcing the state's same-sex marriage bans. The Alabama Probate Judges Association issued a statement on January 24 that said "there is nothing in the judge's order [in Searcy] that requires probate judges in Alabama to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples."[4] The order took effect on February 9, 2015, and 47 of the state's 67 counties began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples that day or shortly thereafter, despite an order from Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore not to do so.[5] The other counties either issued licenses only to opposite-sex couples or stopped issuing marriage licenses altogether. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court had declined state officials' requests for a stay. On March 3, 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court, ruling in a different case, ordered the state's probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and they promptly complied, though a number of them refused to issue any marriage licenses at all. At least 545 same-sex couples married between February 9 and March 3, 2015. Advocates for same-sex marriage rights responded with renewed efforts in federal court, and on May 21, 2015, a federal court ruled that all probate judges were obliged not to refuse to issue marriage licenses on the basis of the applicants being of the same sex, but stayed its ruling pending action by the U.S. Supreme Court.

  1. ^ "Alabama same-sex marriages continue as governor refuses to intervene – as it happened". The Guardian. February 9, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  2. ^ Stern, Mark Joseph (January 6, 2016). "Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore Halts Same-Sex Marriages in His State". Slate.
  3. ^ Davidson, Amy (February 9, 2015). "The Moment for Marriage in Alabama". The New Yorker. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Somashekhar, Sandhya; Barnes, Robert (February 9, 2015). "Alabama chief justice asks officials to defy gay marriage ruling". Washington Post. Retrieved November 15, 2022.


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