Sponsored links

Domestic Partnerships and Same sex marriage (SSM)

Part 1: In Nevada, years 2000 to 2013

Sponsored link.

Background as of 2013-MAR:

Article 1 of the Nevada state Constitution deals with the "Declaration of Rights." It guarantees many basic human rights to its citizens. Examples are: certain inalienable rights of every citizen, trial by jury, liberty of conscience, liberty of speech, liberty of the press, the right to assemble and to petition, the right to keep and bear arms, etc. However, one section in Article 1 actually inserts discrimination into the Constitution by specifically prohibiting what a growing number of Americans consider to be a fundamental human right -- the right of loving, committed same-sex couples to marry. ₁

On election day in the year 2000, voters in Nevada passed an amendment to the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage (SSM). The vote on "Ballot Question 2" was 70% in favor of the ban to 30% opposed. ₂ In 2002, the voters voted again on the same amendment. Amendments to the Nevada Constitution via a citizen initiative requires that a referendum must be passed twice. The second time, the vote was 67% to 33% in favor of the ban. ₃

The amendment states that the only valid marriage in Nevada is a union of one woman and one man. Article 1, Section 21 of the Constitution, titled "Limitation on recognition of marriage," states:

"Only a marriage between a male and female person shall be recognized and given effect in this state." ₁

The marriage laws in Nevada had already excluded same-sex marriage. The constitutional amendment was added to make certain that SSM would not be legalized in the future by simply having the Legislature pass a bill and having it signed into law by the Governor. It would be necessary to repeal Section 21 first before the Legislature could take action.

This high level of opposition to SSM during the very early 21st Century was not limited to Nevada. National surveys at the time showed massive opposition to SSM. However, opposition was gradually dropping and support was slowly increasing. In the two votes on the amendment to the Nevada Constitution, voters' support for the SSM ban dropped by three percentage points over the two year interval between votes. Opposition increased by three percentage points.

Nate Silver's "FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right" blog combined a massive number of data points extracted from a variety of national polls. ₃ He produced the following graph in 2011-APR. Data is shown starting from the late 1980s when support was only of the order of 11% and opposition was about 73%:

₄

Since the above graph was prepared, support for SSM has continued to increase and opposition has continued to decline. By 2013, national polls showed about 58% support for SSM.

Back in 2000 and 2002 when the Nevada constitution was amended to prohibit same-sex marriage, SSMs were not available in the District of Columbia or in any of the 50 states. Later. Massachusetts legalized SSMs in 2004 -- the first state to do so. As of 2013-JAN, eight additional states and the District of Columbia have also legalized SSM.

Legalizing SSM in Nevada would require:

• The repeal of Section 21 of the state Constitution, and
  
  
• Approval of same-sex marriage either by the Legislature and Governor, or by the voters in a referendum.

2009-JUN-01: Nevada legalizes Domestic Partnerships:

During 2009, the Legislature passed a bill allowing both same-sex and opposite-sex partners to enter into domestic partnerships and thereby receive most of the hundreds of state benefits, protections. and rights given to opposite-sex married couples by the state. Domestic partnerships have two major disadvantages to many same-sex couples:

• They do not receive what is to some couples the most important right of all: to call their relationship a marriage and their partner a spouse.
  
  
• If the U.S. Supreme court determines that the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, then legally married same-sex couples would be able to take advantage of some 1,138 federal programs enjoyed by opposite-sex married couples. However, same-sex couples in states that only have civil unions or domestic partnerships would continue to be refused such access. The court is expected to deliver its ruling in late 2013-JUN.

Governor Jim Gibbons (R) vetoed the bill. However, the state Senate overrode the veto by a vote of 14 to 7, and the Assembly overrode the veto by a vote of 28 to 14. The domestic partnership law went into effect on 2009-OCT-01. ₁₁

2013-MAR: Predictions on future SSM developments in Nevada and 11 other states during 2013 & 2014:

One brave soul, Ned Flaherty of Marriage Equality USA, has personally predicted the future outcome of current discussions in 12 states which he feels will lead to the legalization of same-sex marriage in 12 additional states during 2013 or 2014. He also predicts the order in which states will allow SSMs:

₅

He comments:

"The first wave of 10 states took 22 years (1990-2012).  But the second wave — 12 more states — is finishing in just two years (2013-2014). What used to average over 26 months per state is now averaging just eight weeks each. ..."

"Among America's many voter types, there are only five demographic groups left where opponents of equality still show up [as a majority]: less educated Caucasians (56%), the over-65 crowd (58%), Republicans (69%), evangelical Protestant Caucasians (73%), and Tea Partyists (nearly 100%). Those five are the only opponent hideouts left; every other demographic group measured in a major national poll now supports same-gender marriage. ..."

"How did the order in which states are adopting marriage equality become predictable? Each state's rank is affected by 9 key factors: [the SSM status in] neighboring states, LGBT population, current law, state constitution, voters, lawmakers, governors, litigation, and ballot questions. No single factor, by itself, guarantees success or assures failure; but when the 9 factors are analyzed together, after adjustments for legislative calendars and ballot timing, the national road map emerges. ... "

At that point, [at the end of 2014] 45% of America's citizens will live in the 22 states where lawmakers, courts, and/or voters decided to issue same-gender civil marriage licenses. ₅

He predicts that Nevada will be the 21st state to legalize SSM, that SSM may be legalized by the legislature or a federal court case, or by a referendum on election day in 2014. He notes that the most recent public opinion poll of Nevada voters indicates that 58% of them favor legalizing SSM.

This topic continues in the next essay

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. "The Constitution of the State of Nevada," at: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/
2. "Official 2000 general election results: Ballot Question ," Nevada Secretary of State, at: http://nvsos.gov/
3. "Official 2002 general election results: Ballot Question ," Nevada Secretary of State, at: http://nvsos.gov/
4. Nate Silver, "Gay Marriage Opponents Now in Minority, FiveThirtyEight Blog, 2011-APR-20, at: http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/
5. Ned Flaherty, "12 States That Will Probably Legalize Gay Marriage in 2013-2014," PolicyMic, 2013-MAR, at: http://www.policymic.com

Sponsored links: