17 States Now Have Equal Marriage Rights

The constitutional guarantee of equal rights under the law has never been a reality in the United States, but a dream of those who understand and  support the Constitution -- a dream that has had to be fought for throughout this nation's history. Yesterday, another small battle was won that moves that dream just a little bit closer to becoming real.

On Thursday, New Mexico became the 17th state (plus the District of Columbia) to legalize same-sex marriages, when the state's Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages could not be prohibited constitutionally. The court said:

"Accordingly, New Mexico may neither constitutionally deny same-gender couples the right to marry nor deprive them of the rights, protections and responsibilities of marriage laws, unless the proponents of the legislation — the opponents of same-gender marriage — prove that the discrimination caused by the legislation is 'substantially related to an important government interest.'"

The court ruling didn't strike down an actual law, but a sort of tradition. The state doesn't have any law prohibiting (or allowing) same-sex marriages, but county clerks across the state have traditionally denied marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Thanks to this court ruling, they can no longer do that.

Here are the entities that now allow legal same-sex marriages:

1. California
2. Connecticut
3. Delaware
4. Iowa
5. Maine
6. Maryland
7. Massachusetts
8. Minnesota
9. New Hampshire
10. New York
11. Rhode Island
12. Vermont
13. Washington
14. New Jersy
15. Illinois
16. Hawaii
17. New Mexico
and
District of Columbia