1998-1999: Constitutional amendments

In November ’98, we see the appearance of a new tactic.

Since both the Hawaii and Alaska courts ruled that their state constitutions guarantee equal treatment for their citizens, a simple state law isn’t sufficient to stop marriage equality. We’ll actually have to post a Do Not Enter sign on the constitution itself. So constitutional amendments are passed in those two states. (Alaska’s explicitly forbids marriage for same-sex couples. Technically, Hawaii’s only implicitly forbids it by granting the legislature the power to forbid it if it chooses to do so. The legislature immediately passes just such a law.)

And in December of ‘99, a very unfortunate result. On the basis that the Hawaii constitution has now been amended, the Hawaii Supreme Court overturns the decision in Baehr.

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)