Same Sex Marriage In The United States

Same-sex marriage, also referred to as gay marriage is a marriage between two persons of the same sex. The federal government of the United States does not recognize the marriages of same sex couples and is prohibited from doing so by the Defense of Marriage Act. Nationwide, four states have legalized same-sex marriage as a result of a court ruling, while three others have done so through a vote in their respective state legislatures. New York and the District of Columbia do not grant but recognize legal out-of-state same-sex marriages. In California, same-sex marriage was legal from June to November 2008, after the California Supreme Court held the statutes limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples violated the state constitution; but the California electorate then approved a voter initiative that reinstated the ban on same-sex marriage as part of the constitution. Marriages performed during the period remain legally valid.