Gay Marriage Laws in Alabama

Gay marriage news has been more prevalently covered by the media. In fact, the LGBT community has been more widely accepted by society for quite some time. However, gay marriage facts suggest that state laws are not keeping up with that trend. Unfortunately, many states still forbid gay marriage. Facts suggest that this trend may continue for some time.

Unfortunately, many states will continue to ban gay marriage. News coverage is slowly helping to change laws and encourage equality. However, the process is slow, which sometimes forces LGBT couples to travel to other states to enter into a civil union or gay marriage. Facts suggest that those marriages are not likely to be recognized by a large percentage of states in the U.S.


Same sex marriages and civil unions were banned in Alabama by the Sanctity of Marriage Amendment in 2006. The amendment passed by 81% of votes. The amendment was meant to protect the sanctity of marriage as a union between a man and woman.

In the amendment, it is made clear that no union, other than a marriage between a man and woman will be recognized by the state of Alabama, regardless of whether or not the couple had a license and whether or not it was legally banned when the couple entered into gay marriage.

Facts suggest an opposition to any LGBT relationships are made clear in the amendment. Law makers worded it in such a way that it bans all unions between same sex couples, including gay marriage. News trends suggest that this is not an uncommon practice in the wording of amendments.

While domestic partnership is not specifically banned according to the language used, it does ban same sex marriage and civil unions explicitly. In addition, it specifically states that it only recognizes the unique relationships between a man and a woman, opposing relationships between same sex couples at least 6 times.


While many people fight for equal rights for everyone, some state laws are significantly lacking for the allowance of equal rights. For example, Alabama has no recognition for hate crimes committed against the LGBT community. Not only do they forbid gay marriage, facts suggest that they are opposed to equal rights for the LGBT community.

In fact, the only reason that homosexuality is now legal in Alabama, is because of a federal statute that legalized it. The Sanctity of Marriage Amendment also alludes to the fact that the stability and welfare of society is jeopardized by gay marriage.

News media fails to publicly scrutinize states that pass such amendments. Often, the public is only exposed to this type of news, when there is a large public outcry against such actions. While many media outlets cover some issues related to gay marriage, news coverage often excludes the pain associated with couples inability to have their relationship legally recognized.