California, Colorado, and Hawaii took steps to protect same-sex marriage in their states during the 2024 elections, as reported by PEOPLE. This decision comes after fears that the Supreme Court’s recent actions could threaten same-sex marriage rights.
On November 5, voters in these three states approved measures to amend their constitutions and protect marriage equality. This decision comes as President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, who have expressed negative views about LGBTQ+ rights, prepare to take office in January 2025.
Even though same-sex marriage has been legal across the U.S. since the 2015 Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, activists are worried about its future after the court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. In California, voters passed Proposition 3, which gets rid of the state’s 2008 ban on same-sex marriage and guarantees the right that anyone can marry, no matter their sex or race.
Colorado voters also chose a similar measure called Amendment J, which posed the question,
“Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution removing the ban on same-sex marriages?”
Colorado enacted the ban in 2006, and it was never officially repealed.
Hawaii legalized same-sex marriage two years before the Supreme Court mandated it, but there was still a section in the state constitution that allowed the Hawaii Legislature to create a ban on same-sex marriage in the future. However, the year, Hawaii voters decided to remove that part from the constitution, so state lawmakers wouldn’t have the power
“to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.”
#Clique, what are your thoughts?
