Summary: 2004-2005

President Bush called for a constitutional amendment in January 2004 and again in 2005.			Mayor Newsom responded by granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and his actions were copied in four other states.
	Pres. Bush and VP Cheney	San Francisco’s Mayor Newsom with newlyweds		Oregon, New York, New Mexico, New Jersey

Numerous lawsuits were filed, several of which were successful in the lower courts of New York, California, and two in Washington.
	Couples and families, plaintiffs in Andersen v. King County	The Castle/Bauers

Norman Rockwell-esque painting of a male couple getting a marriage license

We saw the first state-sanctioned marriages of same-sex couples begin in Massachusetts – and it didn’t fall into the ocean either.

But we did see a reaction,
in the form of 14 new state constitutional amendments.

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)