Same-sex marriage in American Samoa
On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry.
[1] In 2003, Representative Sua Carl Schuster introduced legislation to the American Samoa Fono to ban same-sex marriage.
The measure was proposed a few years after the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA; Samoan: Tulafono o le Puipuiga o Faaipoipoga) was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
The Senate defeated the measure in March 2003 when it opted to table the bill without taking any action, following testimony from Attorney General Fiti A. Sunia that "if it's not broken, don't fix it.
Chimene Keitner, an expert on territorial issues at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, said that for same-sex marriage to be recognized in American Samoa, there needs to be a voluntary decision or litigation.
Asked about Obergefell during his confirmation hearing, he responded that he had not read the decision and that same-sex marriage fell outside the jurisdiction of the district court.
[16] In a 2022 essay, Chancellor's Professor of Law Christopher Leslie of the University of California, Irvine School of Law wrote of three theoretical routes for the legalization of same-sex marriage in American Samoa: the U.S. Congress could extend Obergefell to American Samoa, local leaders could acquiesce to Obergefell, or a local same-sex couple could file suit in federal court.
In addition, Leslie wrote, "The territory remains under the authority and supervision of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and, thus, it is unclear against whom same-sex couples hoping to enforce Obergefell in American Samoa would file suit.
"[7][17] Leslie further wrote: The hostility to marriage equality in American Samoa is painfully ironic, as its Polynesian culture has historically welcomed and embraced gender diversity.
Couples denied marriage rights may endure higher taxes, reduced access to healthcare, and more complicated and expensive legal planning.
All these benefits and virtues are denied to same-sex and male-faʻafafine couples in American Samoa.Under the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) passed by the United States Congress in December 2022 and signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 13, 2022, all territories, including American Samoa, are required to recognize same-sex marriages performed legally in another jurisdiction.
[18][19][20] Christopher Leslie wrote in 2022 that "the RFMA is critically important in American Samoa precisely because Obergefell did not breach that territory's shores.
