The Tension Between Marriage Equality and Religious Liberty

Although an overwhelming majority of states still define marriage as the union of a man and a woman, there is little doubt that support for marriage equality ' recognition of the right of same-sex partners to marry as a matter of equal protection ' is on the rise. As recently as the beginning of summer 2011, only five states ' Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire ' had legalized same-sex marriage. Of those, only Vermont and New Hampshire had allowed same-sex marriage through legislation. Then, in less than a year, legislatures in four more states ' New York, Washington, New Jersey, and Maryland ' passed laws permitting same-sex marriage. During the same period, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Proposition 8, the 2008 California ballot initiative that deprived same-sex partners of the right to marry, was unconstitutional. Perry v. Brown, 671 F.3d 1052 (9th Cir. 2012). And on May 9, 2012, Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to support gay marriage, publicly announcing his view that “same-sex couples should be able to get married.”