3 States Will Vote on Repealing Marriage Amendments

Voters in three Western states will consider ballot measures this November to repeal marriage changes previously approved by voters. These measures would add redundant legal fortifications to same-sex marriage in anticipation of the day when the current cultural juggernaut consumes its final momentum.

State ballot measures would not have an immediate effect on politics, due to the dual federal protections that same-sex marriage currently enjoys. The Supreme Court rendered unenforceable state constitutional provisions defining marriage as one man and one woman when its Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) unilaterally legalized same-sex marriage. Then, in 2022, the US Congress passed the so-called Respect Marriage Act, which requires all states to recognize any marriage recognized in any other state.

However, pro-LGBTQ+ activists want to remove offensive language from state constitutions anyway. The three states where voters will face ballot measures in November are California, Colorado and Hawaii.

California

In the 2008 election, 52.3% of California voters approved Proposition 8. According to the official vote summary, the proposition “amends the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.” and “provides that only marriages between a man and a woman are valid or recognized in California.” The proposal responded to the California Supreme Court’s May 15, 2008 decision (in remarriage cases) that legalized same-sex marriage.

The proposal amended the California Constitution by adding Article I, Section 7.5, which states: “Only marriage between one man and one woman is valid or recognized in California.” The amendment survived a constitutional challenge in state court on June 17, 2009 (Strauss v. Horton), but was ruled unconstitutional under the federal constitution in the Northern District of California on August 4, 2010 (Perry v. Schwarzenegger), five years before the Obergefell decision.

In the 2024 election, California voters will consider Proposition 3, which “amends the California Constitution to recognize the fundamental right to marry without regard to sex or race” and “removes language from the California Constitution that states that marriage is only between a man and a woman.”

Colorado

In the 2006 election, 55% of Colorado voters approved Amendment 43. The ballot question authorized “an amendment to the Constitution of Colorado…specifying that only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Colorado.” As a result, Section 31 was added to the Colorado Constitution, stating that “Only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as marriage in this state.”

In the 2024 elections, Colorado Amendment J asks voters: “Should there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution removing the ban on same-sex marriages?”

Hawaii

In the 1998 election, 69.2% of Hawaii voters approved Amendment 2, which asked: “Should the Constitution of the State of Hawaii be amended to specify that the Legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage for opposite-sex couples?” The amendment added Article I, Section 23 to the Hawaii Constitution, which states: “The legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage for couples of the opposite sex.”

In the 2024 elections, Hawaii’s No. 1 ballot question asks voters: “Should the state constitution be amended to repeal the legislature’s authority to reserve marriage for opposite-sex couples?”

Status in other states

Another state has previously repealed a marriage amendment. In the 2020 election, 62.43% of Nevada voters approved Ballot Question 2. The measure repealed “an existing provision that only marriage between a male person and a female may be recognized and enforced in Nevada” and required that state entities “shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender” with a narrowly constructed conscience protection for “religious organizations and members of the clergy.”

According to Ballotpedia, 26 other states still have constitutional amendments on file that define “marriage as between a man and a woman.”

Changes to searches

These attempts to establish same-sex marriage in state constitutions may reflect fears that support for same-sex marriage has peaked. Although the vast majority (69%) of Americans still believe that same-sex marriage should be legal, support among Republicans has fallen below 50%, according to a Gallup poll released in June 2024. Support same-sex marriage among Republicans fell by 55%. in 2021 and 2022 to 49% in 2023 and 46% in 2024, a drop of 9 percentage points in two years.

Such a sudden and precipitous drop may have alarmed same-sex marriage activists, suggesting that future support for same-sex marriage is not guaranteed. If you want to establish a constitutional endorsement of same-sex marriage, your best chance is now, while you have strong support.

Future Implications

But ballot measures like California’s have the potential to go much further. “Rather than simply repealing the definition of marriage as one man and one woman, Proposition 3 would have consequences far beyond the legal realm,” Jonathan Keller, president and CEO of the California Family Council, told The Washington Stand.

The California Family Council argued that the proposal “opens the door to potentially enshrine… other non-traditional relationships in state law… paving the way for the normalization of polygamy, child marriage, and even incestuous relationships.”

“It would send a powerful message about the nature of marriage and the values ​​that underpin our society,” Keller said. “For centuries, marriage has been rooted in the biological realities of procreation and child-rearing. By redefining marriage as a purely individual right, Proposition 3 would sever the link between marriage and these fundamental purposes and endanger families, children, and society as a whole.”

Originally published by The Washington Stand