Religion & Law

This data may be of interest.  Please alert me to inaccuracies.

As of April 2009, four states recognize same-sex marriage:  Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Vermont; three states recognize same-sex unions (i.e., civil unions for same-sex couples):  California, New Hampshire, and New Jersey; and five more jurisdictions have enacted domestic partnerships laws that grant many or all of the benefits of marriage to registered domestic partners:  Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Washington State, and the District of Columbia.  According to a 2007 Pew Research Center survey, a bare majority Americans (55%) opposes, and a significant minority (36%) supports, recognizing same-sex marriage.  However, a bare majority of Americans (54%) supports, and a large minority (42%) opposes, civil unions for same-sex couples, according to a 2006 Pew survey.

During the ten-year period from 1998 to 2008, voters in twenty-nine states approved state constitutional bans on same-sex "marriage".  However, some of these bans are limited:  They do not forbid states to extend the benefit of law to same-sex unions; they forbid only calling such unions "marriage".  See "States With Voter-Approved Constitutional Bans on Same-Sex Marriage, 1998-2008," http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=370.

As of April 2009, seven countries--the Netherlands (since 2000), Belgium (2003), Spain (2005), Canada (2005), South Africa (2006), Norway (2009), and Sweden (2009)--recognize same-sex marriage.