1994-1995: Utah’s DOMA

In 1994, a suit is filed in Alaska, Brause v. State.

And the next year, Utah adopts a DOMA. Like the legislators in Maryland, Arizona and California, the Utah legislators see some writing on the wall. The Baehr case in Hawaii is still going on, and the Mormon Church, which is very strong in both Hawaii and Utah, is pouring money into the legal battle. The Mormon lawyers are saying, “Hey, it’s too late to do anything about it in Hawaii, but we’d better be proactive and get something on the books in Utah.”

Timeline key: progress (green), no progress (red), pending court cases (purple),
events that are neutral, not directly related, or with both positive and negative effects (black)