June 26, 2015

Same-sex couples in Alabama no longer had to travel out of state to get married following a 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. In the majority ruling, the justices held that the Due Process clause of the 14^th Amendment guarantees the right to marry, and that it applies to same-sex as well as opposite-sex couples. Many Alabama counties provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But in some counties, probate judges opposed to same-sex marriage have closed their marriage license divisions. In a few counties, probate judges are signing marriage licenses but no longer perform marriage ceremonies. A bill to do away with marriage licenses in Alabama altogether and instead require couples to file a form recording their marriage has failed to pass the Legislature.

Read more at NPR and AL.com.

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.