• States allowing Civil Unions, providing state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples: New Jersey, New Hampshire
• States issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire (as of Jan. 1, 2010).
• States providing nearly all state-level spousal rights to unmarried couples (Domestic Partnerships): California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada.
• States providing some state-level spousal rights to unmarried couples (Domestic Partnerships): Hawaii, District of Columbia, Wisconsin.
• Thirty-six states have statutes prohibiting same-sex marriage.
• Thirty states have a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
• The California Supreme Court ruled on May 15, 2008 that same-sex couples could not be denied the right to marry based on sexual preference. Proposition 8, which was written to limit marriage to one man and one woman and thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision, was passed on November 4, 2008. The decision was unsuccessfully appealed. Same-sex marriages performed before Proposition 8 was passed will remain valid, but same-sex marriages are no longer performed in California.
