Same-sex marriage has been legal in Arizona since October 17, 2014. The U.S. state had denied marriage rights to same-sex couples by statute since 1996 and by an amendment to its State Constitution approved by voters in 2008. On October 17, Judge John W. Sedwick ruled in two lawsuits that Arizona's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, and enjoined the state from enforcing its ban, effective immediately. Attorney General Tom Horne said the state would not appeal that ruling, and instructed county clerks to comply and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Several Arizona cities and towns continue to provide civil unions or domestic partnerships to same-sex couples, offering a subset of the rights and benefits of marriage. Bisbee was the first city to establish civil unions for same-sex couples on June 4, 2013, followed by Tucson later that same month.
Legal history
Restrictions
Statute
In 1975, the Arizona State Legislature passed an emergency bill defining marriage as "a union between a man and a woman" after the Arizona Supreme Court invalidated a marriage license issued to two men by a county clerk in Phoenix.
In 1996, Arizona state legislators passed a ban on same-sex marriage and the recognition of same-sex marriages performed outside of the state. Governor Fife Symington, whose victory in the 1994 election was based in part on campaigning against his opponent's, Eddie Basha Jr., support for same-sex marriage, signed the bill into law.
Arizona statutes still contain a same-sex marriage ban, as well as a ban on recognizing same-sex marriage that are contracted outside of Arizona. The statutory ban is unenforceable due to Obergefell v. Hodges, and the ban on recognition of same-sex marriage contracted outside of Arizona is unenforceable due to the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022.
Constitution
Arizona voters have twice considered amendments to the Constitution of Arizona that would deny marriage rights to same-sex couples. On November 7, 2006, voters defeated Proposition 107, a state-initiated constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage and any legal status similar to marriage, by a margin of 48.2% to 51.8%, departing from the national trend that saw seven other states approve similar constitutional amendments the same day.
On May 12, 2008, the Arizona House of Representatives voted 33 to 25 in favor of Proposition 102, a constitutional amendment which defined marriage in Arizona as "the union of one man and one woman". The Arizona Senate passed the amendment 14–11 on June 25, 2008. On November 4, 2008, Arizona voters passed Proposition 102 by a vote of 56.2% in favor to 43.8% against. Unlike the failed Proposition 107, Proposition 102 did not ban civil unions.
On June 17, 2013, Equal Marriage Arizona filed an initiative to place on the November 2014 ballot an amendment that would substitute a gender-neutral definition of marriage in place of the one added to the State Constitution in 2008. It needed to gather 259,213 valid signatures by July 3, 2014, to have the initiative appear on that November's ballot. The group suspended its efforts in September 2013, announcing that "The various LGBT advocacy groups in the state and nationally announced they weren't going to throw their support behind the initiative. Without their help, we aren't able to do it." Other groups contended that 2016, a presidential election year, would have proven a better opportunity, but no initiative was placed on the ballot that year.