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As of December 31, 2009, marriage between two people of the same sex was legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The District of Columbia has also passed equal marriage legislation, expected to take effect soon. New York, while it does not perform same-sex marriages of its own, recognizes marriages between two people of the same sex performed in other states or countries.
By contrast, 30 states have amended their constitutions to define marriage specifically as between a man and a woman. Eleven others, including Pennsylvania, explicitly ban it by statute. The federal goverment does not recognize any marriage between two people of the same sex for purposes of federal law or benefits.
A 1997 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found 1,049 federal rights and benefits conveyed to married couples under existing law. In 2004, the office revised this number to over 1,100. Among the federal rights conferred by marriage are:
- ability to file a joint tax return
- ability to sponsor a spouse for immigration purposes
- Social Security and military survivor benefits
- access to military stores
- assumption of a spouse's pension
- visitation of a partner in the hospital or in prison
- sick leave to care for a spouse
State law provides hundreds of additional benefits to married partners, which may include:
- automatic inheritance
- exemption from estate tax and vehicle transfer tax
- lease transfer
- burial determination
- immunity from testifying against a spouse
- joint bankruptcy
- divorce protections
- child custody benefits
- access to wrongful death benefits or crime victim benefits
Pennsylvania is among the states that statutorily ban equal marriage. Although numerous legislative attempts have been made to start the process of amending the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, to date they have been unsuccessful. In the 2009-2010 legislative session, another constitutional amendment bill (Senate Bill 707) has been introduced, while a competing bill (Senate Bill 935) has been introduced to permit same-sex marriage in the commonwealth.
Resources
Senate Bill 707: Take Action
Senate Bill 707: Talking Points
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