What are other significant cases and legislation related to same sex marriage?
Baehr v. Anderson (Hawaii): The Vermont ruling comes 11 days after the Hawaii Supreme Court stopped short of recognizing the freedom to marry of lesbians and gay men in Baehr v. Anderson, the case credited with sparking the national discussion about same sex marriage. As in Vermont, the Hawaii case began when three same sex couples were denied a marriage license. In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the state’s marriage policy violated the state Constitution’s prohibition against sex-based discrimination, and ordered a trial for the Health Department to produce a compelling state interest in limiting marriage licenses only to mixed-sex couples. Noting the state’s failure to show a single good reason for discriminating, the Court ruled in 1996 that it was unconstitutional for the Health Department to continue denying the freedom to marry to lesbian and gay couples. The judge, however, also stayed his decision to allow the state to appeal to the Hawaii Supreme Court. In 1998, ant
