Marriage and MarriageLike Relationships in the United States An Overview

chapter 1  | Defining Family |  21
that used to let frequent flyers share accumulated miles only with their
spouses now usually let you bring your domestic partner. Some airlines
also will give discount bereavement fares to domestic partners. Many auto
insurance companies offer discounted rates to cohabitants, especially if
you share ownership of your automobiles.
Several kinds of institutions that used to offer membership discounts
only to married couples, such as museums, health clubs, and public
television stations, now offer them to any household, regardless of marital
status or the gender of the partners.
Hundreds of colleges and universities now offer some type of domestic
partnership benefits to students, staff, or both. For example, domestic
partners may get the same housing rights and tuition reduction as do
married students or employees.
Marriage and Marriage-Like Relationships
in the United States: An Overview
There are now 19 states in which same-sex couples can enter into
committed legal relationships through state-recognized procedures.
The range of rights provided is broad, from full legal marriage in six
states and the District of Columbia to a relationship called “designated
beneficiaries,” providing little in the way of benefits to registrants, in
Colorado. But whatever the specifics may be, each of these states now
provides for some solemnization of same-sex relationships and offers some
level of rights and responsibilities along with the legal status.
These states are:
• California (domestic partnership)
• Colorado (designated beneficiaries)
• Connecticut (marriage)
• Delaware (civil union)
• District of Columbia (domestic partnership and marriage)
• Hawaii (civil union)
• Illinois (civil union)
• Iowa (marriage)
22  |  A Legal guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples
• Massachusetts (marriage)
• Maine (domestic partnership)
• Nevada (domestic partnership)
• New Hampshire (marriage)
• New Jersey (civil union)
• New York (marriage)
• Oregon (domestic partnership)
• Rhode Island (civil union)
• Vermont (marriage)
• Washington (domestic partnership/marriage–see below)
• Wisconsin (domestic partnership).
As this book goes to press, Washington State is in an uncertain status.
The legislature passed a marriage equality law, which the governor signed
on February 14, 2012. In the absence of any intervening events, the act
would become law on June 7, 2012. However, opponents of the law have
until June 6 to gather more than 120,000 signatures in favor of putting
the issue on the November ballot for a vote. If they succeed, the law will
be on hold until the results of the election are certified in December
2012. Most observers consider it likely that the opponents will gather the
necessary signatures, so Washington State’s marriage equality law will
likely remain in limbo until the end of 2012. In the meantime, same-sex
couples can still register as domestic partners.
In all six states that allow marriage, domestic partnership and civil
unions are no longer available, but the District of Columbia offers
both options. Nine other states confer on couples the same rights and
responsibilities that come with marriage in those states. The federal
government does not recognize these relationships for the purpose of any
federal law, a conflict that gives rise to a number of complex issues that
will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 2.
The rest of this chapter deals with the history of same-sex marriage in
the United States and abroad and with general marriage-related matters.
For detailed information about each of the states that offer marriage and
marriage-like relationships, and a discussion of whether marriage or a
marriage-equivalent relationship is right for you, turn to Chapter 2.