Same-sex marriage in Minnesota

rdf:langString Same-sex marriage in Minnesota

rdf:langString Same-sex marriage in Minnesota has been fully recognized since August 1, 2013. Same-sex marriages have been recognized if performed in other jurisdictions since July 1, 2013, and the state began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on August 1, 2013. After 51.9% of state voters rejected a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in November 2012, the Minnesota Legislature passed a same-sex marriage bill in May 2013, which Governor Mark Dayton signed on May 14, 2013. Minnesota was the second state in the Midwest, after Iowa, to legalize marriage between same-sex couples, and the first in the region to do so by enacting legislation rather than by court order. Minnesota was the first state to reject a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, though Arizona rejected one in 2006 that banned all legal recognition and later approved one banning only marriage. Minnesota is also where one of the first same-sex marriage cases in the world took place. In Baker v. Nelson, the Minnesota Supreme Court held unanimously in 1972 that it did not violate the U.S. Constitution to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case on appeal. This decision would finally be repealed on June 26, 2015 in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges.