Conservative justices appear ready to rule for a Christian business owner claiming a free-speech right to turn away same-sex couples planning to marry. The law grants same-sex couples who marry all the rights and responsibilities enjoyed by heterosexual couples, including the right to adopt children. In addition to allowing same-sex couples to wed, the measure gives churches and other religious groups the option of deciding whether or not they want to conduct such marriages. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2004, 1,138 federal rights and protections are conferred to U.
The decision, which went into effect immediately, makes the Andean mountain nation the fifth country in Latin America to allow gays and lesbians to wed.
Is Lgbtq marriage legal in all 50 states?
Some states had also offered same-sex couples the option of entering into civil unions or domestic partnerships, which extend many of the rights and obligations of marriage. State laws that govern family and divorce matters, such as custody rights and responsibilities, property division, and spousal support will now apply equally to opposite-sex and same-sex married couples. State and local government agencies, such as county recorders and clerks must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but the ruling does not require churches to perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples. No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family.
