1996: Romer v. Evans, and DOMAs

Denying fundamental rights to a class of citizens is unconstitutional

In ‘96 the US Supreme Court rules in Romer v. Evans. The Romer case, though not about marriage, upholds the Colorado state supreme court’s decision that a particularly pervasive amendment to the Colorado state constitution, approved by the citizens of Colorado a few years before, “infringed the fundamental right of gays and lesbians to participate in the political process”. The amendment not only repeals all existing state and local laws that bar discrimination based on sexual orientation, it also “precludes all legislative, executive, or judicial action at any level of …government” to a certain class of citizens – namely, gays and lesbians.

The court rules that the amendment clearly violates the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution, not only because a fundamental right – in this case, the right to participate in the political process – is infringed, but also because that infringement is based on animus toward a particular group.

DOMAs

Also in 1996, we see a bill filed in Nebraska to permit marriage, but – taking a cue from Utah – a plethora of DOMAs in 17 states, including Alaska where the Brause case is under way. A DOMA is also proposed in Washington State but fortunately it doesn’t pass.

The threat of same-sex couples getting married is so grave that even the federal government adopts DOMA, signed by Washington Senators Patty Murray and Slade Gorton, and signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

It’s the first time in the history of the US that the federal government passes a law defining marriage, an area that had been a matter strictly for the states.

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)