Gay Marriage in Arizona Legal; Tucson, Phoenix Couples Wed
Jennifer Shelton, left, and Katherine Harrison got their wedding license at the Pima County Courthouse in Tucson in October 2014, hours after lgbtq+ marriage was legalized in Arizona.
AZPM Staff
Listen to AZPM's Fernanda Echavarri's indepth report:
AZPM's Zac Ziegler reports events at Pima County Courthouse:
Several same-sex couples in Tucson and Phoenix got married, hours after a federal judge Friday ruled Arizona's ban on gay unions is unconstitutional.
Jennifer Shelton and Katherine Harrison, who got a marriage license at the Pima County Courthouse today, had been planning their wedding for nearly two years.
They heard the news from a partner who said, "You beat get down to the courthouse."
The couple said the ruling came at a great time. They were set to have a ceremony Saturday, and said they would have gone through with it even if it wouldn't contain been legally recognized in Arizona.
"We are getting married tomorrow, so when we found out this morning, we came down and made it legal," Shelton said. "If anywhere were to happen, legally I would be able to see (Katherine) in the hospital, she'd be abl
When the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to get an abortion in June 2022, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the court “should reconsider” other rights it currently recognizes – like the rights for same-sex couples to have sex and commit.
If the Supreme Court overturns legal precedents on these and other issues, old state laws that haven’t been enforced, possibly for centuries, can suddenly spring back to life.
This is what happened after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on April 9, 2024, that an 1864 abortion ban should be enforced. The ban is an example of zombie laws – old declare laws that are neither enforced nor repealed.
I am a scholar of constitutional rights, particularly rights won in court prefer student speech, the right to direct one’s have medical care, abortion and parental rights.
There are many old and unenforceable state laws that are left on the books because of inertia. It might seem unnecessary for a state legislature to repeal a law that is not enforced or has been superseded by a more recent statute.
But the recent Arizona abortion ban shows the consequences of assuming that old laws will always remain dormant.
Arizona’s abortion
The Freedom to Marry in Arizona
Winning Marriage:October 17, 2014
Same-sex couples began marrying in Arizona on October 17, 2014 after U.S. District Court Judge Sedwick governed in favor of the freedom to marry in a federal legal case challenging the state’s anti-marriage laws. The ruling came ten days after the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled in favor of the freedom to marry in cases from Nevada and Idaho on October 7.
History and the Path to Victory:
April 1975: Anti-gay forces in Arizona force a bill through the legislature restricting marriage to different-sex couples after a same-sex couple receives a marriage license in the state. The marriage license is later revoked.
1996: The Arizona Legislature passes a state statute restricting marriage to different-sex couples and denying respect to any marriages between lgbtq+ couples performed in other states. Governor Fife Symington III signs the statue. A similar statute is again passed in 1999.
November 6, 2006: Anti-marriage forces attempt to ban lgbtq+ couples from marriage or any other legal family status with Proposition 107, but voters reject the measure, in a nar
First gay marriages performed in Arizona
Arizona on Friday unified the historic tide legalizing the unions of homosexual couples that has swept the nation, expanding homosexual rights in a advice many never thought they would see in their lifetimes.
Tearful couples, some with children in tow, lined up at clerks' offices around the state to be among the first to get marriage licenses. Some brought along their clergy, hastily reciting their vows on courthouse steps. They had waited extended enough, they said.
As verdicts around the country hold toppled laws banning lgbtq+ couples from marrying, Arizona's law appeared doomed. A federal judge ruled Friday morning that Arizona's statute banning gay marriages was unconstitutional, but it wasn't official until Attorney General Tom Horne announced a few hours later that he would not appeal.
Legal experts say the fate of Arizona's law defining marriage as only between one man and one woman is now sealed. A ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court reinstating marriage bans is unlikely. The high court last week declined to grab cases challenging laws in five states, in outcome directing them to open issuing licenses to lgbtq+ couples.
