Timeline: LGBTQ Marriage and Marriage Resisters

In response to the the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on June 26, 2015 that the U.S. Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage, OutHistory presents a chronology of documented references to the long history of marriage in U.S. same-sex and transgender history. It stresses the historical diversity and contested quality of marriage relationships, and begins in 1538. The feature is a work in progress, and we hope you will consider contributing to the crowd sourcing process of researching it. OutHistory is asking scholars and the general public to send additional references, including pictures, with as full citations as possible, to outhistory@gmail.com. If you are teaching a class, and would like to have students work on the timeline as an assignment, we can give you editing privileges for the data base.

First published on OutHistory June 10, 2015. Revised June 26, 2015.

2015, March 6: American Historical Association, Brief of Historians of Marriage as Amici Curiae

View a pdf of the document here. Below is a table of contents for reference.

QUESTIONS PRESENTED

1) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?

2) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?

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TABLE OF CONTENTS QUESTIONS PRESENTED page i

INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE page 1

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT page 4

ARGUMENT page 6 I.

MARRIAGE HAS SERVED MULTIPLE PURPOSES BEYOND PROCREATION
THROUGHOUT AMERICAN HISTORY page 6 A.

Marriage Historically Has Served Important Political And Economic Purposes page 7 1.

Marriage developed in relation to governance page 7 2.

Marriage has created public order and economic benefits page 10 B.

Marriage Has Always Been About More Than Childbearing page 11 1.

Neither eligibility for marriage nor sexual intimacy within marriage
has turned on the ability to procreate page 12 2.

Non-biological children have long been integral to the American family page 14 II.

MARRIAGE HAS CHANGED TO REJECT DISCRIMINATORY RULES
AND RESTRICTIONS page 16 A.

Marriage Laws Have Changed To Reflect
Changing Understandings Of Spouses’ Respective Roles and Rights page 16 iii

B. Race-Based Restrictions On Marriage Eligibility Have Been Eliminated page 19 C.

Courts Have Played An Instrumental Role In Changes To Marriage Laws page 22

CONCLUSION page 24

APPENDIX LIST OF AMICI CURIAE HISTORIANS OF MARRIAGE page 1a

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Source:
Accessed April 28, 2015 from:
http://www.historians.org/Documents/AHA%20Letters/Amici%20Curiae%20on%20Same-Sex%20Marriage%202015.03.06.pdf