Section 2.18 Same-Sex Marriages

• Library: Family Law Deskbook and 2014 Supp

8. (§2.18) Same-Sex Marriages

Under § 451.022, RSMo Supp. 2011, the public policy
of Missouri provides for a marriage between a man and
a woman only. A 1996 change in federal legislation,
the DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act), 1 U.S.C. § 7 and
28 U.S.C. § 1738C, gave the states the right not to recognize a same-sex marriage that is treated as a valid marriage under the laws of another state. 28 U.S.C. § 1738C. For purposes of federal law, marriage is defined as “only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.” 1 U.S.C. § 7. At least one case has declared this act unconstitutional. Mass. v. Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., 698 F. Supp. 2d 234 (D. Mass. 2010).

As indicated in §2.1 above, there is renewed debate over the definition of marriage and whether the federal or various state DOMA laws are constitutional or require amendment of the state or federal constitutions to be effective. Several states were debating the issue following the Massachusetts Supreme Court’s decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, 798 N.E.2d 941
(Mass. 2003), in which the state policy of denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples was found to violate numerous provisions of that state’s Constitution. The Massachusetts justices similarly determined that
the legislative attempt to address Goodridge by prohibiting same-sex marriages but allowing same-sex...