2013 has been an incredible year for marriage equality. In June, we celebrated the Supreme Court of The United States' ruling that the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA) was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court also dismissed the case to uphold California's Prop. 8, which California's courts previously ruled unconstitutional. After these two major rulings by the Supreme Court, marriage equality resumed in California and couples who were married in states that had marriage equality saw their marriages recognised at the federal level.
In addition, nine states welcomed marriage equality in 2013.
California- Perry vs. California, Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional on August 4, 2010. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court after an appeal in the 9th Circuit. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the official proponents of Proposition 8 lacked standing to appeal in federal court due to a lack of direct injury required by well-established precedential standards. (June 26, 2013) Marriage Equality resumed on June 28, 2013
Rhode Island- Passed by the Rhode Island General Assembly May 2, 2013, marriage equality became effective August 1, 2013.
Delaware- Passed by the Delaware General Assembly May 7, 2013, marriage equality became effective July 1, 2013.
Minnesota- Passed by the Minnesota Legislature May 14, 2013, marriage equality became effective August 1, 2013.
New Jersey- New Jersey Superior Court ruling in Garden State Equality v. Dow September 27, 2013, marriage equality became effective October 21, 2013. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie later withdrew an appeal to the ruling.
Illinois- Passed by the Illinois General Assembly November 20, 2013, marriage equality became effective June 1, 2013.
Hawaii- Passed by the Hawaii Legislature November 13, 2013, marriage equality became effective December 2, 2013
New Mexico- Affirmed by the New Mexico Supreme Court in Griego v. Oliver ruling December 19, 2013, marriage equality became effective December 19, 2013.
Utah- In a last-minute suprise move, United States District Court for the District of Utah ruling in Kitchen v. Herbert December 20, 2013, marriage equality became effective December 20, 2013. The ruling will be appealed, but several couples were married.
2013 was an incredible year for marriage equality. We now have 18 states with full marriage equality. With the tremendous amount of support for marriage equality we have seen in 2013, let's see if the rest of the United states will be added to the list for 2014!