Same-sex marriage in Guam

Previously, a 1994 law specifying the responsibilities of the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services defined marriage as the "union of a man and a woman".

The legality of the union may be established by civil or religious regulations, as recognized by the laws of Guam.Federal courts in Guam are subject to the precedents set in 2014 by the decisions of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Latta v. Otter and Sevcik v. Sandoval, which found Idaho's and Nevada's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples unconstitutional.

On April 8, 2015, a lesbian couple were refused a marriage license by the Department of Public Health and Social Services.

The next day, the editorial board of the Pacific Daily News endorsed the legalization of same-sex marriage in Guam.

[18] Attorney General Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson endorsed the Department's refusal, but when later asked if Guam law violated the Fourteenth Amendment said: "Good question.

[19] The couple filed a lawsuit challenging the territory's refusal to grant them a marriage license, Aguero v. Calvo, in the District Court of Guam on April 13.

[20] On April 15, 2015, Attorney General Barrett-Anderson ordered Guam officials to begin licensing same-sex marriages.

[23][24] On June 5, Judge Tydingco-Gatewood issued a ruling striking down Guam's statutory ban on same-sex marriage.

[26] The first couple to marry was Deasia Johnson of Killeen, Texas and Nikki Dismuke of New Orleans, Louisiana, who were married in a brief ceremony in the office of Public Health Director James Gillan on the morning on June 9, the day the island became the United States' first overseas territory to recognize same-sex marriage.

67 of these couples were Guam residents, while 12 were from the Philippines, 9 from Taiwan, 6 from the state of California and 5 each from Hong Kong and the Northern Mariana Islands.

[31] An April 2015 poll conducted by students from the University of Guam found a 55% majority in favor of same-sex marriage, while 29% were opposed and 16% had no opinion on the issue.