Attorney General Tom Horne said the state would not appeal that ruling, and instructed county clerks to comply and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
[1] Several Arizona cities and towns continue to provide civil unions or domestic partnerships to same-sex couples, offering a subset of the rights and benefits of marriage.
Governor Fife Symington, whose victory in the 1994 election was based in part on campaigning against his opponent's, Eddie Basha Jr., support for same-sex marriage,[3] signed the bill into law.
Several of the couples were the parents of minor children and most had married in other states, including California, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, and Washington.
[15] On September 12, U.S. District Judge John W. Sedgwick ordered that the state record a death certificate for plaintiff George Martinez as the husband of Fred McQuire.
[17][18] Sedwick said he was bound by recent decisions of the Ninth Circuit in Sevcik v. Sandoval and Latta v. Otter: "The Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit recently ruled that substantially identical provisions of Nevada and Idaho law that prohibit same-sex marriages are invalid because they deny same-sex couples equal protection of the law, the right to which is guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
The state's Roman Catholic bishops said the decision "reflects a misunderstanding of the institution of marriage", and Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, said she was "heartbroken", "We mourn the loss of a culture and its ethical foundation.
..."[19] The Maricopa County Clerk's Office quickly began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
[27] On August 13, 2014, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that the state's constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage did not prevent the trial court from granting a divorce in a case, Beatie v. Beatie, in which one of the spouses was a transgender individual and had been married in a jurisdiction which had recognized their marriage as consisting of the union of one man and one woman.
[28] On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry.
Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 by the U.S. Supreme Court, Governor Doug Ducey said he was "not interested" in revisiting the issue of same-sex marriage.
A bill to legalize same-sex marriage was introduced to the Navajo Nation Council by Delegate Eugene Tso of Chinle in July 2022.
Navajo culture has traditionally recognized two-spirit individuals who were born male but wore women's clothing and performed everyday household work and artistic handiwork which were regarded as belonging to the feminine sphere.
Associated with prosperity and believed to have originated in the third world of the Holy People, the nádleehi directed the planting and the fieldwork, and generally functioned as head of a household.
The elha "talked like women", "sought out female company" and refused to learn masculine tasks, and they married men without indication of polygyny.
Among the neighboring Quechan, two-spirit individuals who were born male but performed women's activities, such as grounding corn and fetching water, are known as elxa (pronounced [elˈxaː]).
[46] There have been several proposals to promote a voter initiative legalizing civil unions by groups of private citizens, including one gay rights activist from the United Kingdom.
[47][48] Opinion polls have indicated that a measure creating civil unions statewide would have a high likelihood of passage.
In 2010, Equality Arizona, which opposes such a "separate-but-equal" status, announced it was considering other ways to respond to the passage of Proposition 102 in 2008.
[50] The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the injunction on September 6, 2011, and denied the defendants' request for an en banc review on April 3, 2012.
The Ninth Circuit certified the lawsuit as a class action in December 2013, allowing the injunction to cover all similarly situated couples.
On June 4, 2013, the city council of Bisbee approved an ordinance legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples; it took effect 30 days later.
[53][54] The councils of several towns and cities followed Bisbee and Tucson in adopting a civil union ordinance: Jerome on July 30, 2013,[55] Sedona on September 24, 2013,[56] Clarkdale on November 12, 2013,[57] and Cottonwood on December 17, 2013.
[59] The cities of Flagstaff,[60] Phoenix,[61] Scottsdale,[61] Tempe,[61] and Tucson,[61] along with Pima County,[61] offer domestic partnership benefits to same-sex couples.