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Here’s The Latest Tally of Who Has Marriage, Who Doesn’t, and What Happens Next
Is anyone else feeling totally baffled about which states have marriage and which don’t? The rulings have been coming so fast, and states courts changing their minds so quickly, that it’s hard to figure out where you can get married and where you can’t these days.
As far as we can tell, if you want to mosey on down to a courthouse and get a marriage licenses right now (Monday, October 13), you can do that in 28 states (plus DC and 10 tribes). Does that sound right? There are a handful of states (Idaho, Kansas, etc) where things are murky, since different officials seem to have different opinions about what’s allowed and what’s required. And in other states (Alaska) courts have ruled against marriage bans, but the law remains on the books, so you still can’t get married yet.
But all in all, this sure was a winning week, wasn’t it? We added at least 27 million Americans to the total population with the freedom to marry, which is going to account for an awful lot of wedding registries. And that number could still tick up in the next few days.
So why are we still waiting in some states? Well, we haven’t gotten a sweeping national victory from the U.S. Supreme Court, and it looks like they won’t wade into the mess unless some dumb federal court actually upholds a marriage ban. That could happen soon, or it could happen in a few months, or it might happen never. The only thing that’s certain is that we’re unlikely to see the population with marriage equality ever decrease again.
matt baume
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