Same-Sex Marriage Now Legal in 70% of US States

The laws involving same-sex marriage in the US are ever changing, to say the least. You might think marriage would be a simple legal subject, but not so much. At least, not yet. While many expect this will change in the near future, for now here are the simple facts on a not-so-simple subject:

Same-sex marriage is legal in 70% of the states. These are:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

The following states do not permit same sex marriage:

Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota,Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas.

In addition to the states, the US has 5 territories, of which Puerto Rico is by far the largest with 3.5

million of the 4 million residents living in the territories. Gay marriage is not legal in any of the territories.

However, a lawsuit was filed in Puerto Rico seeking the right of same-sex couples to marry. The courtrejected same-sex marriage and that decision is now on appeal.

Stay tuned.