History of Marriage in the U.S.

Law

Mar 13, 1691

Virginia enacts a law stating that if a white person marries a person of color, the couple will be banished from the colony. This means almost certain death in the woods.

Louisanna Black Code

Mar 13, 1724

Article VIII of Louisianna Black Code forbids marriages between slaves without consent of the slave master.

Law

Mar 13, 1769

"By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in the law. The very being and legal existence of the women is suspended during the marriage, or a least is incorperated into that of her husband under whose wing and protection she performs everything."

Constitution SIgned

Mar 13, 1787

Women's Rights Granted

Mar 13, 1839

Mississippi grants women the right to hold property in their own name, with their husbands permission. By 1900 all states had legislation granting women some control over their property and earnings.

Missouri vs. Celia

Mar 13, 1855

A black women is declared to be a property without a right to defend herself against a master's act of rape.

Mississippi Black Code

Mar 13, 1865

The Mississippi Black Code probhibits Blacks from marrying whites, punishable by life imprisonment.

Page Law

Mar 13, 1875

Page Law ends the arrival of Chinese women immigrants based on the fear that Asian immmigrants would either begin to from families in the U.S., or that "those who didn't have protection of a man might become a prostitute."

The Immigration Act

Mar 13, 1917

Bans all Asian immigration. Saying that they are psychopaths, inferiors, and 'people with abnormal sexual instincts.'

New York v. Sanger

Mar 16, 1918

New York v. Sanger allows doctors to advise their married patients about birth control for health purposes. It wasn’t until 1965 that all state laws prohibiting the prescription or use of contraceptives by married couples were overturned.

Ladies Agreement

Mar 16, 1920

“Ladies Agreement” ends the arrival of Japanese and Korean picture brides. European women are also affected — they were banned from entry if they could not show that either a man or a job was available.

Immigration Act of 1924

Mar 16, 1924

Immigration Act of 1924 establishes quotas that even more heavily favor Northern and Western European immigrants. Immigration from Asia is banned, including wives and children of Chinese Americans.

Perez v. Sharp

Mar 16, 1948

In Perez v. Sharp, California Supreme Court becomes first state high court to declare a ban on interracial marriage unconstitutional. In 1967 the U.S. Supreme Court, in Loving v. Virginia, overturns all state bans on interracial marriage, declaring that the “freedom to marry” belongs to all Americans.

Immigration Act

Mar 16, 1965

Immigration Act eliminates race, creed and nationality quotas as basis for admission to the United States. The act stressed family reunification and awarded 3/4 of immigration slots to relatives. “Family” is based on strictly heterosexual and nuclear ties. Law explicitly bans lesbians and gays as “sexual deviates.”

Divorce in California

Mar 16, 1969

California adopts the nation’s first “no fault” divorce law, allowing divorce by mutual consent.

Womens Shelter Opens

Mar 16, 1973

First battered women’s shelter opens.

Homosexuality

Mar 16, 1980

INS announces new policy on homosexuality: If an immigrant admitted that s/he was homosexual to an INS inspector, s/he is excluded. If a homosexual person denied that s/he was homosexual, but was later found out, s/he could be deported for perjury.

Kirchberg v. Feenstra

Mar 16, 1981

Kirchberg v. Feenstra overturns state laws designating a husband “head and master” with unilateral control of property owned jointly with his wife.

Repeal of gay and lesbian ban

Mar 16, 1990

Congress repeals ban on gay and lesbian immigration by removing homosexuality as a reason to disqualify foreigners from immigrating, or even visiting the United States.

Same- Sex Marriage

Period: Mar 16, 1990 to Mar 16, 1996

A series of articles are published in LGBT and mainstream journals advocating for marriage of same-sex couples to become a national priority in LGBT organizing. The authors of these articles were gay conservative white men who saw marriage as a way to make the LGBT community more “respectable.”

Marital Rape

Mar 16, 1993

All fifty states have revised laws to include marital rape.

Social Groups

Mar 16, 1994

Gays and lesbians qualify as a particular social group for purposes of U.S. asylum law,

PRWORA

Mar 16, 1996

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) is the first federal law to explicitly promote marriage and encourage the formation of two-parent [heterosexual] families.

No divorce in Arizona

Mar 16, 1998

Arizona passes Covenant Marriage legislation, under which heterosexual couples promise to stay married for life and renounce their legal right to a no-fault divorce. Florida becomes the first state to mandate high school seniors to take a marriage and relationship skills course before graduation through the Florida Marriage Preparation and Preservation Act.

Vermont Creates a Law Allowing Same-sex Couples to Marry

Mar 16, 1999

Vermont Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples are entitled, under the Vermont Constitution, to all of the protections and benefits provided through marriage. In 2000, Vermont legislature passes and Vermont Governor signs a law creating civil unions for same-sex couples, giving these couples all the rights and benefits of marriage under Vermont law but not marriage licenses.

Encouraging Marriage

Mar 16, 2000

Oklahoma Governor announces a $10 million plan to encourage marriage and reduce divorce. Other states continue to follow this example and in 2004 Congress will vote on whether or not to include “marriage promotion programs” in welfare reform nationally.

Massachusetts Lawsuit

Mar 16, 2001

Gay and lesbian couples from Massachusetts file state court lawsuit seeking the right to marry.

Same sex Couples Sue

Jun 26, 2002

Seven New Jersey lesbian and gay couples sue in New Jersey state court and demand their constitutional right to marry.

Lawrence v. Texas

Mar 16, 2003

In Lawrence v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down last remaining anti-gay sodomy laws in Texas and other states.

FMA

Period: Mar 16, 2003 to Mar 16, 2004

The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) is proposed and defeated in Congress. The FMA would have denied marriage rights to same-sex couples by adding the following two sentences to the U.S. Constitution: “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.” “Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any state, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups

Goodridge v Dep. of Public Health

Nov 18, 2003

On November 18, 2003 in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Supreme Court holds that barring an individual from the protections, benefits and obligations of civil marriage solely because that person would marry a person of the same sex violates the Massachusetts Constitution.

Marriage Licenses Issued to Same Sex Couples

May 17, 2004

Marriage licenses first issued to same-sex couples in MA on May 17, 2004.