A Federal Judge on Monday declared South Dakota’s same-sex marriage ban ‘unconstitutional’ paving the way for this to become the 37th US State that will allow gay marriage.
Or will it make it the 38th? With so many Court rulings popping up almost weekly these days it’s hard to keep track of the actual number of States where same-sex marriage is legal. With the US Supreme Court so far still refusing to step in again to re-visit the whole federal Constitutional Issue, it has been left to each of the 50 States to resolve the matter for themselves. Many of them, like Florida the nation’s 3rd most populated State, put up a fierce and often dirty fight by Officials and its Far Right ‘Christian’ Supporters, but to no avail in the end.
It is estimated that 70% of gay people in the US now live in States where same-sex marriage is illegal, and it is no longer a question of IF they remaining 13 (or 14?) States will catch up, but just a matter of when. However, these last few are the country’s most conservative/republican ones and getting their laws changed will not be easy.
The USA is hoping to beat its neighbour Mexico to become the 20th Country in the world where same-sex marriage is totally legal.
The first 19 are Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, Denmark, France, Brazil, Uruguay, New Zealand, Britain, Luxembourg and Finland)
