| Washington Supreme Court to hear arguments on gay marriage
Massachusetts is the only state where gay marriage is legal. The state's Supreme Judicial Court legalized it in 2003. The court will hear arguments this year on a challenge to a 1913 state law that bars out-of-state gay couples from getting married there. In addition to Washington state, legal challenges by same-sex couples seeking the right to marry are pending in California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Oregon. Voters in thirteen states passed constitutional amendments banning gay marriage last year: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah. What's happening with gay marriage nationally - Massacusetts is the only state where gay marriage is legal. The state's Supreme Judicial Court legalized it in 2003; the court will hear arguments this year on a challenge to a 1913 state law that bars out-of-state gay couples from getting married there. - Four states already had gay marriage bans in their constitutions: Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska and Nevada. - The following states have laws on the books (but not in their constitutions) prohibiting gay marriage: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. - Connecticut, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Maryland, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Wyoming have no laws explicitly banning gay marriage. - Vermont bans gay marriage but legalized same-sex civil unions in 2001.
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