Same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania

Part of the LGBT rights series
Marriage legal

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. ^ 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. ^ Recognition of a "declaration of family relationship" is available in 68 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.
  14. ^ Spousal health insurance benefits
  1. ^ a b Not yet in effect.
LGBTQ portal

Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Pennsylvania since May 20, 2014, when a U.S. federal district court judge ruled that the state's 1996 statutory ban on recognizing same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.[1] Governor Tom Corbett announced the following day that he would not appeal the decision. Pennsylvania had previously prohibited the recognition of same-sex marriage by statute since 1996, but had never added such a ban to its State Constitution.

Efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania in 2009 and 2013 were unsuccessful due to opposition from conservative members of the General Assembly. The state has also never recognized civil unions or domestic partnerships which would have provided couples with a subset of the rights and benefits of marriage. Pennsylvania was the eighteenth U.S. state, the nineteenth U.S. jurisdiction (after the District of Columbia), and the last in the Northeastern United States to legalize same-sex marriage.[2]

  1. ^ Botelho, Greg (May 20, 2014). "Federal judge rules same-sex marriage ban in Pennsylvania is unconstitutional". CNN. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  2. ^ Heller, Karen (October 24, 2013). "Pennsylvania stands alone on yet another issue". Philly.com. Retrieved December 3, 2013.