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Where Can Gay Couples Get Married?

Click on a state or choose one from our drop-down menu to find the latest developments, state organizations, and action alerts on a local level.

While five states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and New Hampshire) have the freedom to marry for gay couples, there are seven states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and New York) plus the District of Columbia that officially pledge non-discrimination against marriages between same-sex couples.

Because New Mexico’s laws do not prohibit marriage between same-sex couples, there is no impediment to New Mexico same-sex couples marrying in Massachusetts or California and having their marriage honored in New Mexico. While Massachusett’s government directed that licenses could be given to New Mexico couples, the New Mexico state government has not taken action to ensure they will be honored.

Various states now offer broad protections short of marriage including civil unions in New Jersey, and broad domestic partnerships in the District of Columbia, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and California. Smaller packages of protections for same-sex couples are available in Hawaii, Maryland, Maine, Colorado, and Wisconsin. All of these states continue to work toward marriage.

With these advances, 13-percent of the US population lives in a state which either has the freedom to marry for gay couples or honors out-of-state marriages of gay couples. Nearly forty percent of the US population (38-percent) lives in a state which provides some form of protections for gay couples.