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On Monday, February 14th, 2012, Gov. Christine Gregoire signed into law a measure that makes Washington state the seventh to legalize same-sex marriage. She stated that it was “a day historians will mark as a milestone for equal rights”. The law is set to take effect on June 7th of this year, but already opponents are geared to put the question of same-sex marriage to the voters by gathering signatures (a total of 120,577 would be needed) to put Referendum 74 on the November ballot.
Gregoire’s signature came nearly a week after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declared that California’s ban on gay marriage (Prop 8) is unconstitutional. The ruling currently only applies to California, though the court also holds jurisdiction in Washington state.
Gay marriage is currently legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington D.C., with Washington state seemingly on its way. And this week New Jersey, Maine, and Maryland took steps in advancing gay marriage in their respective legislations (while North Carolina and Minnesota will see amendments on their ballots to ban gay marriage in November).
What does this mean for immigration? Well, unfortunately, nothing. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is federal law that defines marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman. Section 3 of DOMA prohibits recognition of same-sex marriages for all federal purposes, which includes Social Security benefits, the filing of joint tax returns and, because it is federal law, immigration.
However, in 2011 the Obama administration announced that it determined Section 3 to be unconstitutional, and although it will continue to enforce the law as it stands, it will no longer defend it in court. This continues to be an on-going battle among the branches of our federal government. But the trend of states passing their own laws to legalize same-sex marriage could lead the federal government to follow close behind, which could potentially see some action.