Editing Federal Marriage Amendment

{{short description|Proposed U.S. Constitutional amendment to outlaw the acknowledgement of homosexual marriages}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2016}}

The '''Federal Marriage Amendment''' ('''FMA'''), also referred to by proponents as the '''Marriage Protection Amendment''', was a proposed [[Article Five of the United States Constitution|amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]] that would legally define marriage as a union of one man and one woman. The FMA would also prevent judicial extension of marriage rights to [[same-sex couple|same-sex]] couples.

An amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires the support of two thirds of each house of Congress and [[ratification]] by three fourths of the states. The last congressional vote on the proposed amendment occurred in the House of Representatives on July 18, 2006, when the motion failed 236 to 187, falling short of the 290 votes required for passage in that body. The Senate has only voted on [[cloture]] motions with regard to the proposed amendment, the last of which was on June 7, 2006, when the motion failed 49 to 48, falling short of the 60 votes required to allow the Senate to proceed to consideration of the proposal and the 67 votes required to send the proposed amendment to the states for ratification.  President [[George W. Bush]] endorsed this proposal and made it part of his campaign during the 2004 and 2006 election cycles.<ref>Robert Draper, ''Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush'' (2007), pp. 377–379</ref><ref name="dodson">Scott Dodson, "The Peculiar Federal Marriage Amendment." ''Arizona State Law Journal'' 36 (2004): 783+ [https://repository.uchastings.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2409&context=faculty_scholarship online].</ref>

==Background and current law==

===Role of states===
In the United States, civil marriage is governed by [[State law (United States)|state law]]. Each state is free to set the conditions for a valid marriage, subject to limits set by the state's own constitution and the U.S. Constitution. Traditionally, a marriage was considered valid if the requirements of the marriage law of the state where the marriage took place were fulfilled. (First Restatement of Conflicts on Marriage and Legitimacy s.121 (1934)). However, a state can refuse to recognize a marriage if the marriage violates a strong public policy of the state, even if the marriage was legal in the state where it was performed. (Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 283(2) (1971).) States historically exercised this "public policy exception" by refusing to recognize out-of-state polygamous marriages, underage marriages, incestuous marriages, and interracial marriages. Following the ''Windsor'' decision in 2013, nearly all courts that have addressed the issue have held that states with laws defining marriage as a one-man, one-woman union cannot refuse to recognize same-sex marriages that were legally performed elsewhere and must permit all people, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, the right to marry.<ref name="dodson"/>

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in [[Same-sex marriage in the United States#Tables|all US States]].  In 2003 and 2008 respectively, the [[Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court|Massachusetts]] and [[Supreme Court of California|California]] supreme courts ruled in ''[[Goodridge v. Department of Public Health]]'' and ''[[In Re Marriage Cases]]'' that the states' constitutions required the state to permit same-sex marriage. The Massachusetts decision could be reversed by an amendment to the state constitution; to date, no such amendment has successfully been passed in Massachusetts. On June 2, the [[California Proposition 8|''California Marriage Protection Act'']], commonly referred to as Prop 8 qualified for the 2008 General Election ballot.<ref>[http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_j.htm#2008General California 2008 General Election ballot propositions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617213215/http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_j.htm |date=June 17, 2009 }}</ref> Voted into law on November 4, 2008, it amended the California Constitution to provide that "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California". Prop 8 was later found to be unconstitutional and same-sex marriage was allowed to resume.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ag.ca.gov/cms_pdfs/initiatives/i737_07-0068_Initiative.pdf |title=California Marriage Protection Act |access-date=June 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721032937/http://www.ag.ca.gov/cms_pdfs/initiatives/i737_07-0068_Initiative.pdf |archive-date=July 21, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Thirty states passed state constitutional amendments defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. On June 26, 2015, all amendments banning same-sex marriage were invalidated by the Supreme Court's ruling on ''[[Obergefell v. Hodges]]''.

===Federal statutes regulating marriage===
Although individual U.S. states have the primary regulatory power with regard to marriage, the [[United States Congress]] has occasionally regulated marriage. The 1862 [[Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act]], which made bigamy a punishable federal offense in U.S. territories, was followed by a series of federal laws designed to end the practice of polygamy. In 1996 as a reaction to a state level judicial ruling prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying that may violate Hawaii's constitutional equal protection clause (Baehr v. Miike, 80 Hawai`i 341), Congress passed the [[Defense of Marriage Act]] (DOMA), section 3 of which defined marriage as a legal union of one man and one woman for the purpose of interpreting federal law. Under DOMA section 3, the federal government did not recognize same-sex marriages, even if those unions were recognized by state law. For example, members of a same-sex couple legally married in Massachusetts could not file joint [[Income tax in the United States|federal income tax returns]] even if they filed joint [[State income tax|state income tax returns]]. DOMA section 3 was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in ''[[United States v. Windsor]]'' on June 26, 2013 and repealed by the [[Respect for Marriage Act]] on December 13, 2022.

===The United States Constitution and federal courts===
Federal courts have interpreted the U.S. Constitution to place some limits on states' ability to restrict access to marriage. In ''[[Loving v. Virginia]]'', the United States Supreme Court overturned state marriage laws that barred interracial marriages on the basis that marriage is a "basic civil right..." and that "...the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State." The Supreme Court struck down a 1992 Colorado constitutional amendment that barred legislative and judicial remedies to protect homosexuals from discrimination solely on the basis of their sexual orientation in ''[[Romer v. Evans]]''.

In 1972, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] dismissed, "for want of a substantial question," an appeal by two men who unsuccessfully challenged Minnesota's marriage statutes in state court. Because the case, ''[[Baker v. Nelson]],'' came to the Court through mandatory appellate review (not ''[[certiorari]]''), the summary dismissal established ''Baker v. Nelson'' as a binding precedent.<ref>Project, ''Developments in the Law: The Constitution and the Family,'' 93 Harv. L. Rev. 1156, 1274 (1980) (discussing ''Baker's'' posture as precedent); ''see, e.g.'' Pamela R. Winnick, Comment, ''The Precedential Weight of a Dismissal by the Supreme Court for Want of a Substantial Federal Question: Some Implications of Hicks v. Miranda,'' 76 Colum. L. Rev. 508, 511 (1976); ''Baker v. Nelson,'' 409 U.S. 810 (1972).</ref>

In 2010, the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of California]] ruled<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i//MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/A_U.S.%20news/Life/gaymarriage.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=August 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614223900/http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i//MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/A_U.S.%20news/Life/gaymarriage.pdf |archive-date=June 14, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> that Proposition 8, passed two years earlier by a majority of voters, was unconstitutional. As in Judge Baitaillon's decision about the Nebraska law, Judge [[Vaughn Walker]] stated in his ruling that moral opposition to same-sex marriage is not sufficient reason to make a law valid. Judge Walker ruled the law violated the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection clause, as well as the Due Process Clause. The proponents of Proposition 8 appealed to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]], which affirmed the lower court's decision on February 7, 2012.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hagan |first=Robyn |url=https://blogs.findlaw.com/ninth_circuit/2012/02/perry-v-brown-ninth-circuit-says-prop-8-is-unconstitutional.html |title=Perry v. Brown: Ninth Circuit Says Prop 8 is Unconstitutional - Civil Rights Law - U.S. Ninth Circuit |publisher=Blogs.findlaw.com |date=February 7, 2012 |access-date=October 14, 2013}}</ref> On June 26, 2013, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]], vacated the Ninth Circuit's ruling for lack of jurisdiction. Two days later the Ninth Circuit dissolved its stay of the district court's ruling, allowing same-sex marriage to resume in California.<ref name="latimes.com">[http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-prop-8-gay-marriage-20130628,0,1889039.story Prop 8: Gay marriages can resume in California, court rules]</ref> In 2015 the Supreme Court held in ''[[Obergefell v. Hodges]]'' that the government could not refuse to recognize same-sex marriage.

==Legislative history==
The Federal Marriage Amendment has been introduced in the [[United States Congress]] multiple different times: in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013, and 2015; none of which were successful.

===2002===
[[File:Ronnie Shows bioguide.jpg|180px|thumb|[[Ronnie Shows]], sponsor of the first Federal Marriage Amendment]]
The original proposed Federal Marriage Amendment was written by the [[Alliance for Marriage]] under [[Matthew Daniels]] with the assistance of former [[Solicitor General of the United States|Solicitor General]] and failed [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] nominee Judge [[Robert Bork]], Professor [[Robert P. George]] of [[Princeton University]], and Professor Gerard V. Bradley of [[Notre Dame Law School]].<ref>Cooperman, Alan. (February 14, 2004) [https://web.archive.org/web/20110629015242/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A40866-2004Feb13 "Little Consensus on Marriage Amendment: Even Authors Disagree on the Meaning of Its Text"] ''[[The Washington Post]]''. Retrieved August 18, 2007.</ref><ref name="WSJ2004">{{cite news |last1=SchlesingerStaff |first1=Jacob M. |title=How Gay Marriage Thrust 2 Outsiders Onto Center Stage |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB107749245871536123 |access-date=3 March 2022 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=24 February 2004}}</ref> It was introduced in the [[107th United States Congress]] in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] on May 15, 2002, by Representative [[Ronnie Shows]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]-[[Mississippi|Miss.]]) with 22 cosponsors,<ref>{{cite news|title=Marriage Amendment Preserves Male-Female Union|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,52891,00.html|access-date=October 7, 2012|newspaper=Fox News|date=May 16, 2002}}</ref> and read:

{{blockquote|Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any State, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.}}

The bill was designated H.J.Res 93 and was immediately referred to the [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary|House Committee on the Judiciary]]. On July 18, 2002, it was referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, which took no action on it.<ref>Shows, Ronnie, et al. (May 15, 2002) [https://web.archive.org/web/20150426211324/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.j.res.00093 H.J.RES.93 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage] [[United States House of Representatives]], [[Library of Congress]]. Retrieved July 1, 2013.</ref>

===2003===
The amendment was introduced again by Rep. [[Marilyn Musgrave]] ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]]-[[Colorado|Colo.]]) on May 21, 2003, with the same wording proposed in 2002.<ref name=hjres56>Musgrave, Marilyn, et al. (May 21, 2003) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.j.res.00056: H.J.RES.56 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage]{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} [[United States House of Representatives]], [[Library of Congress]]. Retrieved August 19, 2007.</ref><ref name=sjres26>Wayne, Allard, et al. (November 25, 2003) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SJ00026: S.J.RES.26 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage]{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} [[United States House of Representatives]], [[Library of Congress]]. Retrieved August 19, 2007.</ref> The bill was designated H.J.Res.56 in the House and was immediately referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. On June 25, 2003, it was referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, where hearings were held on May 13, 2004.<ref name=hjres56/> On November 23, Rep. [[Barney Frank]] (D-[[Massachusetts|Mass.]]) objected that the amendment would interrupt Massachusetts' scheduled experiment with same-sex marriage, then scheduled to begin in May 2004. Musgrave countered that the Massachusetts marriages were court-ordered. She said: "If we're going to redefine marriage, let's let the American people, through their elected representatives, decide—not activist judges. Let the people of Massachusetts decide."<ref>{{cite news|last=Savage|first=Charlie|title=Frank sees referendum for ruling on gay marriage |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2003/11/24/frank_sees_referendum_for_ruling_on_gay_marriage/ |access-date=August 19, 2013|newspaper=Boston Globe|date=November 24, 2003}}</ref>

The bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator [[Wayne Allard]] ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]]-[[Colorado|Colo.]]) on November 25, 2003, and designated S.J.Res.26. The amendment changed the language of the proposed amendment, substituting "marriage" for "marital status" and specifying that it applied to "any union other than the union of a man and a woman" rather than "unmarried couples or groups". The changes were intended to make it clear that state legislatures could still recognize civil unions if the amendment were to pass. "This new language makes the intent of the legislation even clearer: to protect marriage in this country as the union between a man and a woman, and to reinforce the authority of state legislatures to determine benefits issues related to civil unions or domestic partnerships," said Sen. Wayne Allard.<ref>{{cite news|title=Federal Marriage Amendment Reworded to Allow Civil Unions|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/marchweb-only/3-22-22.0.html|access-date=August 3, 2013|newspaper=Christianity Today|date=March 1, 2004}}</ref> It was immediately referred to the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Senate Committee on the Judiciary]].<ref name=sjres26/>

===2004===
When the 2003 version of the FMA failed to advance in the Congress, Senator Allard re-introduced the Amendment on May 22, 2004, with a revised second sentence. Rep. Musgrave re-introduced the Amendment in the House on September 23, 2004, with the same revision.

The 2004 version of the Federal Marriage Amendment stated:<ref name=hjres106>Musgrave, Marilyn, et al. (September 23, 2004) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.j.res.00106: H.J.RES.106 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081112151742/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.j.res.00106: |date=November 12, 2008 }} [[United States House of Representatives]], [[Library of Congress]]. Accessed August 18, 2007.</ref><ref name=sjres30>Allard, Wayne, et al. (March 22, 2004) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SJ00030: S.J.RES.30 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704170158/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SJ00030: |date=July 4, 2016 }} [[United States Senate]], [[Library of Congress]]. Accessed August 18, 2007.</ref><ref name=sjres40>Allard, Wayne, et al. (July 7, 2004) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SJ00040: S.J.RES.40 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081112024019/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SJ00040: |date=November 12, 2008 }} [[United States Senate]], [[Library of Congress]]. Accessed September 1, 2007.</ref>

{{blockquote|Marriage in the United States shall consist solely of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.}}

The bill was designated S.J.Res.30 in the Senate and was immediately referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. When the bill became stuck in committee, Senator Allard re-introduced the Amendment in the Senate on July 7, 2004, where it was designated S.J.Res.40. The bill was subject to a [[Filibuster (legislative tactic)|filibuster]]: on July 9, 12, 13 and 14, the motion was made to proceed to consideration of the measure. On July 14, 2004, a [[cloture]] motion to force a direct vote on the FMA was defeated in the Senate by a margin of 50 nay votes to 48 yea votes. The 48 votes in support of the cloture motion were 12 votes short of the 60-vote [[supermajority]] (three-fifths) needed to end debate and force a vote on the Amendment itself.<ref name=sjres40/> Senators [[John Kerry]] of [[Massachusetts]] and [[John Edwards]] of [[North Carolina]] skipped the filibuster vote.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/15/us/senators-block-initiative-to-ban-same-sex-unions.html?scp=4&sq=&pagewanted=all|title=Senators Block Initiative to Ban Same-Sex Unions|last=Hulse|first=Carl|date=July 15, 2004|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 16, 2009}}</ref> On July 15, 2004, the motion to proceed to consideration of the Amendment was withdrawn in the Senate.<ref name=sjres40/> Six Republicans voted with a majority of Democrats against cloture in the Senate.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/14/politics/senate-vote-blocks-effort-to-ban-gay-marriage-in-constitution.html|title=Senate Vote Blocks Effort to Ban Gay Marriage in Constitution|last=Hulse|first=Carl|date=2004-07-14|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-05-29|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The bill was designated H.J.Res.106 in the House and was immediately referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. On September 28, 2004, rules were recommended by the [[United States House Committee on Rules|House Rules Committee]] with regards to debate and voting on the proposed Amendment. The rules were passed on September 30.<ref name=hjres106/><ref name=hres801>(September 28, 2004) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:H.RES.801: H.RES.801 Providing for consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 106)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009060825/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:H.RES.801: |date=October 9, 2014 }} [[United States House Committee on Rules|House Rules Committee]]. [[United States House of Representatives]]. Retrieved September 1, 2007.</ref> The resolution was immediately considered. Passage of the proposed Amendment failed 227 yea votes to 186 nay votes, where 290 yea votes (two-thirds) are required for passage of a proposed [[Article Five of the United States Constitution|Constitutional amendment]].<ref name=hjres106/>

===2005/2006===
On January 24, 2005, Senator Allard introduced the Marriage Protection Amendment, which was the 2004 version of the Federal Marriage Amendment verbatim, with 21 Republican co-sponsors. In 2006, Rep. Musgrave introduced the Marriage Protection Amendment in the House. This version had the same language as the 2004 proposal, except that the word "solely" in the first sentence was replaced by the word "only".<ref name=hjres88>Musgrave, Marilyn, et al. (June 6, 2006) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.j.res.00088: H.J.RES.88 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081111213948/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.j.res.00088: |date=November 11, 2008 }} [[United States House of Representatives]], [[Library of Congress]]. Retrieved August 19, 2007.</ref><ref name=sjres1>Allard, Wayne, et al. (January 24, 2005) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SJ00001: S.J.RES.1 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081112032657/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SJ00001: |date=November 12, 2008 }} [[United States Senate]], [[Library of Congress]]. Retrieved August 19, 2007.</ref>

The bill was designated S.J.Res.1 in the Senate and was immediately referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. On November 9, 2005, the [[United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights|Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights]] approved the bill for consideration by the full Judiciary Committee. On May 18, 2006, the Judiciary Committee reported to the Senate and the bill was placed on the legislative calendar. The motion to proceed to the measure was first made on June 5, 2006. A cloture motion on the motion to proceed was then presented in Senate. On June 6 and 7, the motion to proceed to the measure was again considered in the Senate. On June 7, a [[cloture]] motion to force a direct vote on the Marriage Protection Amendment was defeated in the Senate by a margin of 48 nay votes to 49 yea votes, with the vote mostly following party lines with Democrats opposing and Republicans in favor.<ref name=sjres1/><ref name="2006Cloture">(June 7, 2006) [https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00163 U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 2nd Session - Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to the Consideration of S. J. Res. 1] Clerk of the [[United States Senate]]. Retrieved August 18, 2007.</ref> The 49 votes in support of the cloture motion were 11 votes short of the 60-vote [[supermajority]] (three-fifths) needed to end debate and force a vote on the Amendment itself.<ref name=sjres1/> Eight Republican Senators opposed or did not vote; four Democratic Senators favored or did not vote.<ref name="2006Cloture"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna13181735|title=Gay marriage ban defeated in Senate vote|date=2006-06-07|work=msnbc.com|access-date=2018-05-29|language=en}}</ref>  The only Senators who changed their position from the 2004 vote to the 2006 vote were Senators [[Judd Gregg]] (R-[[New Hampshire|N.H.]]) and [[Arlen Specter]] (R-[[Pennsylvania|Penn.]]), both of whom voted Yea in 2004 and Nay in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/07/AR2006060700929_pf.html|title=Gay Marriage Ban Falls Short of Majority|last=Kellman|first=Laurie|date=June 7, 2006|newspaper=The Washington Post|agency=Associated Press|access-date=July 7, 2009}}</ref>

The bill was designated H.J.Res.88 in the House and was immediately referred to the [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary|House Committee on the Judiciary]]. On July 17, 2006, rules were recommended by the [[United States House Committee on Rules|House Rules Committee]] with regards to debate and voting on the proposed Amendment. The rules were passed on July 18.<ref name=hjres88/><ref name=hres918>(July 18, 2006) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:H.RES.918: H.RES.918 Providing for consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 88)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925205438/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:H.RES.918: |date=September 25, 2014 }} [[United States House Committee on Rules|House Rules Committee]]. [[United States House of Representatives]]. Retrieved September 1, 2007.</ref> The resolution was immediately considered. Passage of the proposed Amendment failed 236 yea votes to 187 nay votes, where 290 yea votes (two-thirds) are required for passage. The motion to reconsider was immediately [[Table (verb)|laid on the table]] and agreed to without objection.<ref name=hjres88/> Twenty-seven Republican Representatives opposed the FMA; thirty-four Democrats voted in favor of the FMA and one Independent voted against the FMA in the vote on July 18, 2006, in the House.<ref>Clerk of the House. (July 18, 2007) [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll378.xml Final Vote Results For Roll Call 378] [[U.S. House of Representatives]]. Retrieved August 22, 2007.</ref>

===2008===
On May 22, 2008, Rep. [[Paul Broun]] (R-Ga.) and 91 co-sponsors introduced H.J.Res.89, which proposed the enactment of FMA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-hj89/show|title=H.J.Res.89: Marriage Protection Amendment|date=May 22, 2008|publisher=OpenCongress.org|access-date=July 7, 2009}}</ref> Senator [[Roger Wicker]] ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]]-[[Mississippi|Miss.]]) and eight other senators introduced similar legislation with S.J.Res.43 on June 25.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.J.RES.43:|title=S. J. RES. 43|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=July 7, 2009|archive-date=November 27, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081127081642/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.J.Res.43:|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===2013===
U.S. Representative [[Tim Huelskamp]] (R-[[Kansas]]) reintroduced the FMA ({{USBill|113|hjres|51}}) on June 28, 2013, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the [[Defense of Marriage Act]] in ''[[United States v. Windsor]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/154997-huelskamp-defends-amendment-to-ban-gay-marriage/ |title=Huelskamp defends amendment to ban gay marriage |last=Jaffe |first=Alexandra |date=June 30, 2013 |newspaper=The Hill |access-date=July 17, 2013}}</ref> The bill, which had 58 cosponsors, never made it out of committee.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-joint-resolution/51|title=H.J.Res.51 - 113th Congress (2013-2014): Marriage Protection Amendment|date=July 15, 2013}}</ref>

===2015===
Huelskamp again introduced the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2015, during the [[114th Congress]], as {{USBill|114|hjres|32}}. The amendment garnered 37 cosponsors, all Republicans. It never made it out of committee.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-joint-resolution/32|title=H.J.Res.32 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): Marriage Protection Amendment|date=February 12, 2015}}</ref>

==Political considerations==

===Bush administration's stance===
In 2003, the White House declined to take a stand on the amendment, although Press Secretary [[Ari Fleischer]] relayed that President [[George W. Bush]] believed that marriage was between a man and a woman.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/02/us/white-house-avoids-stand-on-gay-marriage-measure.html?scp=2&sq=%22Federal+marriage+amendment%22&st=nyt|title=White House Avoids Stand On Gay Marriage Measure|last=Stolberg|first=Sheryl Gay|date=July 2, 2003|work=The New York Times|access-date=July 7, 2009}}</ref> In his [[State of the Union address]] on January 20, 2004, President Bush alluded to the recent [[Goodridge v. Department of Public Health|court decision]] in Massachusetts ordering the state to recognize same-sex marriages beginning in May: "Activist judges ... have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives.... If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process."<ref>[[s:George W. Bush's Fourth State of the Union Address|State of the Union, January 20, 2004]]</ref> On February 24, after the same [[Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court|Massachusetts court]] reiterated that it was insisting on marriage and that civil unions were insufficient, Bush expressed support for this amendment for the first time.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2004/02/25/AR2005032201695_pf.html|title=Bush Backs Amendment Banning Gay Marriage|last1=Allen |first1=Mike |last2=Cooperman|first2=Alan|date=February 25, 2004|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=A1|access-date=January 15, 2009}}</ref> In August, [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Dick Cheney]] neither endorsed nor condemned the FMA, arguing that same-sex marriage is an issue for the states to decide.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kaufman|first1=Marc|last2=Allen|first2=Mike |title=Cheney Sees Gay Marriage as State Issue|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29862-2004Aug24.html |access-date=July 21, 2013|newspaper=Washington Post|date=August 25, 2004}}</ref> In 2009, Cheney stated his support for same-sex marriage on a state-by-state basis.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jun-02-na-cheney2-story.html Cheney supports same-sex marriage 'on a state-by-state basis']</ref>

On January 25, 2005, according to ''[[The New York Times]]'', Bush told a privately invited group of [[African-American]] [[community]] and [[religion|religious leaders]] that he remained committed to amending the Constitution to "ban same-sex marriage".<ref>Bumiller, Elizabeth. (January 26, 2005) [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/national/26bush.html "President Discusses Issues With Black Leaders"] ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref> Over the course of the next two days, it was revealed by ''The Washington Post'' and ''[[USA Today]]'' that the Bush administration had paid columnists to promote its views. The [[Department of Health and Human Services]] paid [[Maggie Gallagher]] $21,500, and [[Michael McManus (columnist)|Mike McManus]] $49,000, to write syndicated news columns endorsing the FMA.<ref>(January 26, 2005) [https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-01-26-bush-columnists_x.htm "Bush to agencies: Don't hire columnists to promote agendas"] [[Associated Press]]. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref><ref>Drinkard, Jim; Memmott, Mark. (January 27, 2005) [https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-01-27-hhs_x.htm "HHS says it paid columnist for help"] ''[[USA Today]]''. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref> Additionally, Gallagher also received $20,000 in 2002 and 2003 to write a report on government initiatives to strengthen marriage. McManus leads a group called "Marriage Savers" promoting marriage as defined between a man and a woman.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/01/27/mcmanus/|title=Third columnist caught with hand in the Bush till|last=Boehlert|first=Eric|date=January 27, 2005|work=Salon|access-date=January 15, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607011423/http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/01/27/mcmanus/|archive-date=June 7, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Influence on 2004 presidential election===
By the time Americans went to the polls, [[John Kerry]] opposed the Federal Marriage Amendment and affirmatively supported civil unions, while [[George W. Bush]] supported the Federal Marriage Amendment but was not opposed to states enacting their own civil union legislation.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/us/campaign-2004-renewed-state-efforts-made-against-same-sex-marriage.html?pagewanted=all|title=Renewed State Efforts Made Against Same-Sex Marriage|last=Dao|first=James|date=July 16, 2004|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 16, 2009}}</ref>

Previously, on February 24, 2004, Bush called for an amendment which would have outlawed same-sex marriage, and which would have disallowed states from recognizing or enforcing same-sex civil unions. Bush's statement included a requirement that any amendment "leav[e] the state legislatures free to make their own choices in defining legal arrangements other than marriage."<ref>Bush, George W. (February 24, 2004) [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040224-2.html President Calls for Constitutional Amendment Protecting Marriage] [[United States President]]. Retrieved August 18, 2007.</ref> The White House partly clarified Bush's position in a February 24, 2004 press conference<ref>McClellan, Scott. (February 24, 2004) [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040224-5.html Press Briefing] [[White House]]. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref> with White House Press Secretary [[Scott McClellan]], who stated that by calling on the FMA to permit states the possibility of creating other "legal arrangements," Bush specifically meant to permit states the chance of enacting civil unions. (McClellan also stated, however, that Bush did not personally support civil unions.) Similarly, at the February 25, 2004 press conference,<ref>McClellan, Scott. (February 25, 2004) [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040225-7.html Press Briefing] [[White House]]. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref> McClellan stated that the White House intended to work with Congress to develop language for the FMA that permitted states to enact civil unions. Although Bush frequently spoke about FMA on the campaign from February and November 2004, he avoided mention of the phrase "civil unions" until an ABC News interview of October 26, 2004, aired one week before the election.<ref>(October 26, 2004) [https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6338458 "Bush's gay union stance irks conservatives"] [[Associated Press]]. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref>

The FMA's Republican co-sponsors, Senator [[Wayne Allard]] (R-CO) and Representative [[Marilyn Musgrave]] (R-CO), announced new language for the proposed amendment on March 23, 2004, replacing the second sentence of the amendment with "Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman." Both Allard and Musgrave called the change purely "technical."<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/mar_amend4.htm Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Recent events up to 2004 MAY] ReligiousTolerance.org. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref>

Opponents of the FMA claim polling of the public has shown a cautious response, with a number of polls indicating opposition, even in states such as [[Arizona]] and [[Colorado]] which were  thought of as socially conservative at the time. They cite [[Pew Research Center]] exit polls from the 2004 elections finding that 25% of polled voters support same-sex marriage and another 35% support civil unions.<ref>Goodstein, Laurie; Yardley, William. (November 5, 2004) [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/05/politics/campaign/05religion.html Bush Benefits From Efforts to Build a Coalition of the Faithful] ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved April 26, 2007.</ref>

On the other hand, of the 11 states in which amendments defining marriage were on the ballot, all passed handily. Bush won in nine, including [[Ohio]]. Interpretation of some exit polling suggests that the amendments may have brought out one million additional voters, most of which came out for the first time to cast their ballots for Bush.<!-- Dead Link<ref>http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041105/ts_alt_afp/us_vote_bush_religion&cid=1506&ncid=1963&sid=96378801 {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref> --> Notably, a vast majority of these states have not voted for a Democrat in years. The two states that Bush did not win, Michigan and Oregon, still passed amendments limiting official recognition of marriage to one man one woman unions.

However, Roberta Combs, President of the [[Christian Coalition of America]] claims, "Christian evangelicals made the major difference once again this year." In the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 presidential election]], there was some speculation that a number of evangelicals did not go to the polls and vote because of the [[October surprise]] of George W. Bush's drunk-driving arrest record. In a dozen swing states that decided the presidential election, moral values tied with the economy and jobs as the top issue in the campaign, according to Associated Press exit polls.<!-- Dead Link<ref>https://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041104/ap_on_el_pr/eln_how_bush_won_2 {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref> -->

==Arguments against==
:''This section contains arguments specific to the Federal Marriage Amendment. For arguments for and against same-sex marriage in general, see [[Same-sex marriage#Controversies]]''

The first sentence of H.J. Res. 56 would provide an official definition of legal marriage in the United States. Proponents{{Who|date=June 2010}} claim that this is a reasonable measure, based on established custom, which defends the family and the institution of marriage.{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}} To others, it is an unfair means of excluding same-sex couples from receiving benefits from that institution. The Federal Marriage Amendment discriminates against the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aclu.org/other/frequently-asked-questions-about-federal-marriage-amendment-and-gay-marriage|title=Frequently Asked Questions about the Federal Marriage Amendment and Gay Marriage}}</ref>

===Federalism===
Opponents of the FMA argued it would violate the [[states' rights]] to regulate marriage by [[Federal government of the United States|federalizing]] the issue, which they said should be left to the states. Some used the federalism argument, including Senator [[John Kerry]], Senator [[John McCain]], and Representative [[Ron Paul]], who opposed the FMA for several reasons, one of which that regulating marriage is not a proper role of the federal government. The author [[Jonathan Rauch]] wrote that "the proposed amendment strips power not from judges but from states," since the amendment would not allow any state to create same-sex marriage even by the rules of its own state-level democracy. "That conservatives would contemplate so striking a repudiation of federalism," Rauch wrote, "is a sign of the panic that same-sex marriage inspires on the right."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Leave Gay Marriage to the States|last=Rauch|first=Jonathan|date=27 July 2001|work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> Furthermore, constitutionally defining marriage would have reversed the choices already made in states and territories including Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Iowa, and the District of Columbia.

===Unmarried heterosexual couples===
It is argued that the 2003 version of the FMA would have severely affected the ability of heterosexual unmarried couples to seek some degree of legal protection and/or provisions.<ref>(May 28, 2003) [https://www.aclu.org/lgbt/relationships/11820res20030528.html "Marriage Amendment: Oppose Writing Intolerance into the Constitution"], [[American Civil Liberties Union]]. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref>

Opponents of the FMA argue that it may complicate efforts to enforce laws against [[domestic abuse]] in [[heterosexual]] relationships involving unmarried couples.<ref>[http://www.legalmomentum.org/congress/FMADV2pager060206.pdf "Passage of the Federal Marriage Amendment will harm victims of domestic violence"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929022731/http://www.legalmomentum.org/congress/FMADV2pager060206.pdf |date=September 29, 2007 }} [[Legal Momentum]]. Retrieved August 13, 2007.</ref> They note that two Ohio courts ruled that Ohio's similar amendment made the state's domestic violence laws unconstitutional as applied to unmarried couples, because they created a "quasi-marital relationship". (The decisions were later reversed.)<ref>Bischoff, Laura A. (October 15, 2006) [http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2006/10/15/mj101606carswellinside.html "Challenge to gay marriage ban makes some unlikely bedfellows: Top court must decide if unwed couples can be treated as spouses in domestic-violence cases."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515232711/http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2006/10/15/mj101606carswellinside.html |date=May 15, 2008 }} ''Middletown Journal''. Retrieved August 18, 2007.</ref>

Supporters of the FMA asserted that this argument was a [[scare tactic]] and that the FMA would not prevent laws against domestic abuse from being applied to unmarried couples.<ref name="McDonnell">McDonnell, Robert F. (September 14, 2006) [http://www.vaag.com/OPINIONS/2006opns/06-003Newmanetal.pdf "Virginia Attorney General Legal Opinion on effect of State Marriage Amendment"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070821190801/http://www.vaag.com/OPINIONS/2006opns/06-003Newmanetal.pdf |date=August 21, 2007 }} Commonwealth of Virginia, Office of the Attorney General. Retrieved August 18, 2007.</ref> In Ohio, 8 of the 10 Ohio Courts that addressed the effect of the State Amendment on Domestic Violence Laws found no conflict. Additionally several Attorneys General of other states issued legal opinions finding that no such conflict would exist.<ref>Wasden, Lawrence G. (February 8, 2006) [http://www2.state.id.us/ag/ops_guide_cert/2006/Opinion06-1.pdf Attorney General Opinion No. 06-1 Regarding Proposed Amendment to the Idaho Constitution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071126212156/http://www2.state.id.us/ag/ops_guide_cert/2006/Opinion06-1.pdf |date=November 26, 2007 }} State of Idaho, Office of the Attorney General. Retrieved August 18, 2007.</ref> With the final ruling of the Supreme Court of Ohio, which held that the DV Statute was not in-conflict, no State faces any contention between marriage Statutes and Domestic Violence Laws.<ref>Moyer, C.J. for Majority. (July 25, 2007) [http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/0/2007/2007-ohio-3723.pdf State of Ohio v. Carswell - Decision] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201045554/http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/0/2007/2007-ohio-3723.pdf |date=December 1, 2007 }} Supreme Court of Ohio. Retrieved August 18, 2007.</ref>

===Separation of church and state===
Some religious groups argue that having the government decide whether a same-sex marriage should be legally binding on the grounds of the ideology of other religious groups restricts their religious freedom. They argue that marriage is a religious term that should not be defined by the government. Where same-sex marriage is recognized in the United States, no church or other religious institution is forced to perform same-sex marriages, but the FMA would deny the opportunity for religions which approve of same-sex marriage to perform legally binding same-sex marriages.

===Unnecessary and ineffective===
Opponents of the FMA have claimed that life for those in a heterosexual marriage are not materially affected by a constitutional marriage definition or legalization of same-sex marriage. They stated that the FMA was totally unnecessary because federal and state laws, combined with the state of the relevant constitutional doctrines at the time, already made court-ordered nationwide same-sex marriage unlikely for the foreseeable future. It was claimed therefore, that such an amendment was a solution in search of a problem. It was claimed that neither federal nor state courts were likely to order same-sex marriage under the traditional interpretation of the Constitution's [[Full Faith and Credit Clause]]. Nor, for the foreseeable future, it was claimed, were courts likely to mandate same-sex marriage under substantive federal constitutional doctrines, such as the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause or the Equal Protection Clause. This claim ultimately became untrue, as the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that denying the right of marriage to same-sex couples was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause in its landmark 2015 ruling in ''[[Obergefell v. Hodges]]''.

===Institution of Marriage Amendment===
The [[Concerned Women for America]] (CWA), an anti-feminist group, were concerned about the wording of the 2004 Federal Marriage Amendment. CWA criticized the language in the amendment because the second sentence is open to differing interpretations, and its drafters acknowledged that it was specifically worded so state legislators could create civil unions and domestic partnerships, because the CWA opposes any legal recognition of same-sex couples. CWA preferred the Institution of Marriage Amendment crafted by Home School Legal Defense Association president Michael Farris. That amendment, which has not been introduced by any member of Congress, states:<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=17217 |title=Should a marriage amendment also ban civil unions? |access-date=August 3, 2013 |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808050023/http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=17217 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{blockquote|Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither the United States nor any State shall recognize or grant to any unmarried person the legal rights or status of a spouse.}}

==Arguments in favor==
{{More citations needed section|date=September 2019}}

:''This section contains arguments specific to the Federal Marriage Amendment. For arguments for and against same-sex marriage in general, see [[Same-sex marriage#Controversies]]''

===Restriction of perceived judicial overreach===
Proponents of FMA argued that same-sex marriage advocates wanted to disregard [[federalism]] and use the judicial system to make same-sex marriage legal nationwide, and that only the Federal Marriage Amendment could forestall that.{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}

Proponents of the FMA initially argued that if it were not for judicial overreach, there would be no need for an FMA; states' rights would not be violated since no state legislatures had recognized same-sex marriage. However, by the end of 2012, a number of states had enacted same-sex marriage both through the actions of their state legislatures ([[Same-sex marriage in Vermont|Vermont]], [[Same-sex marriage in New Hampshire|New Hampshire]], [[Same-sex marriage in New York|New York]]), and through popular vote ([[Same-sex marriage in Maine|Maine]], [[Same-sex marriage in Maryland|Maryland]], [[Same-sex marriage in Washington (state)|Washington]]).

Prior to these legislative enactments and popular vote outcomes, proponents of the FMA argues that the federalism proposed by the opponents of a constitutional amendment was a contrivance for permitting federal courts to force same-sex marriage upon the whole nation, no matter what the people of the individual states desire. Proponents supported this claim with ''[[Citizens for Equal Protection v. Bruning]]'', in which a district court struck down Nebraska's marriage amendment, even though it had been passed by a margin of seventy percent (although the amendment was later reinstated). Opponents of the FMA argued that no federal court has ever ordered a state to permit same-sex marriage. However, on February 7, 2012, a federal appeals court in a 2-to-1 decision threw out California's voter-approved restriction on same-sex marriage (Proposition 8) saying that it violated the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Nagourney|first=Adam|title=Court Strikes Down Ban on Gay Marriage in California|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/us/marriage-ban-violates-constitution-court-rules.html|access-date=July 2, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 2, 2012}}</ref>

===Uniform application of Full Faith and Credit===
Under the [[Full Faith and Credit Clause]], with certain exceptions, a state is obligated to honor the judgments and declarations of other states. While some assert that a "license" could be construed as a "judgment", the majority of legal scholars disagree. However, it is pointed out that a judgment for divorce is required to be honored because judgments are required to be enforced by out-of-state jurisdictions, regardless of whether those judgments are against the public policy of the out state forum (see ''Williams v. North Carolina'', 317 U.S. 287 (1942) (the case also stated that there is no "authority which lends support to the view that the full faith and credit clause compels the courts of one state to subordinate the local policy of that state, as respects its domiciliaries, to the statutes of any other state")). Because of the intricacies of family law and the mobility of married couples, the recognition of marriages in other states varies. The need for clarification on state uniformity in this issue requires a constitutional amendment at the federal level, particularly considering there will be a flood of marriages in out-of-state jurisdictions for purposes of obtaining a same-sex marriage license.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}}

===Opposite-sex marriage as necessary for child-rearing===
FMA proponents argued that opposite-sex marriage has been given special legal protections, as the basis for [[child-rearing]], and to [[Legitimacy (family law)|legitimize]] lines of inheritance.<!-- Dead Link<ref>http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=114&page=15 {{Bare URL inline|date=May 2022}}</ref> -->

==Legislative activity==

===Federal level===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Congress
! Short title
! Bill number(s)
! Summary
! Date introduced
! Sponsor(s)
! # of cosponsors
! Latest status
|-
| [[107th Congress]]
| Federal Marriage amendment
| {{USBill|107|H.J.Res.|93}}
| Constitutional Amendment - Declares that marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.<br />
States that neither this Constitution or the constitution of any State, nor State or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.
| May 15, 2002
| [[Ronnie Shows]]<br />(D-MS)
| 22
| Died in the [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary|Committee on the Judiciary]]
|-
| rowspan=4 | [[108th Congress]]
| rowspan=3 | Federal Marriage Amendment
| {{USBill|108|H.J.Res.|56}}
| Constitutional Amendment - Declares that marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Prohibits the Constitution or any State constitution, or State or Federal law from being construed to require that marital status or its legal incidents be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.
| May 21, 2003
| [[Marilyn Musgrave]]<br />(R-CO)
| 131
| Died in the [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary|Committee on the Judiciary]]
|-
| [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:s.j.res.00026: S.J.Res.<br />43] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081127224944/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:s.j.res.00026: |date=November 27, 2008 }}
| Constitutional Amendment - Declares that marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Prohibits the Constitution or any State constitution, or State or Federal law, from being construed to require that marital status or its legal incidents be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.
| November 25, 2003
| [[Wayne Allard]]<br />(R-CO)
| 10
| Died in the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Committee on the Judiciary]]
|-
| [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:S.J.Res40: S.J.Res.<br />40] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215133112/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:S.J.Res40: |date=December 15, 2012 }}
| Constitutional Amendment - Federal Marriage Amendment - Declares that marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Prohibits the Constitution or any State constitution from being construed to require that marital status or its legal incidents be conferred upon any union other than that of a man and a woman.
| July 7, 2004
| [[Wayne Allard]]<br />(R-CO)
| 19
| Failed [[cloture]] motion (48-50)
|-
| Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage.
| {{USBill|108|H.J.Res.|106}}
| Constitutional Amendment - Marriage Protection Amendment - Declares that marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Prohibits the Constitution or any State constitution from being construed to require that marital status or its legal incidents be conferred upon any union other than that of a man and a woman.
| September 23, 2004
| [[Marilyn Musgrave]]<br />(R-CO)
| 121
| Failed in House (227-186)
|-
| rowspan=2 | [[109th Congress]]
| rowspan=4 | Marriage Protection Amendment
| [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:S.J.Res1: S.J.Res.<br />1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121212213455/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:S.J.Res1: |date=December 12, 2012 }}
| Constitutional Amendment - Marriage Protection Amendment - Declares that:<br />
(1) marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman; and<br />
(2) neither the U.S. Constitution nor the constitution of any state shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon any other union.
| January 24, 2005
| [[Wayne Allard]]<br />(R-CO)
| 32
| Failed [[cloture]] motion (49-48)
|-
| {{USBill|109|H.J.Res.|88}}
| Constitutional Amendment - Marriage Protection Amendment - Declares that: (1) marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman; and (2) neither the U.S. Constitution nor the constitution of any state shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon any other union.
| June 6, 2006
| [[Marilyn Musgrave]]<br />(R-CO)
| 134
| Failed in House (236-187)
|-
| rowspan=2 | [[110th Congress]]
| {{USBill|110|H.J.Res.|89}}
| Constitutional Amendment - Marriage Protection Amendment - Defines marriage in the United States as consisting only of the union of a man and a woman. Prohibits either the U.S. Constitution or the constitution of any state from being construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon any other union.
| May 22, 2008
| [[Paul Broun]]<br />(R-GA)
| 91
| Died in the Subcommittee on the [[United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice|Constitution and Civil Justice]]
|-
| [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.j.res.00043: S.J.Res.<br />43] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105232120/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.j.res.00043: |date=January 5, 2011 }}
| Constitutional Amendment - Marriage Protection Amendment - Declares that: (1) marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman; and (2) neither the U.S. Constitution nor the constitution of any state shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon any other union.
| June 25, 2008
| [[Roger Wicker]]<br />(R-MS)
| 17
| Died in the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Committee on the Judiciary]]
|-
| [[113th Congress]]
| Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage.
| {{USBill|113|H.J.Res.|51}}
| Constitutional Amendment - Marriage Protection Amendment - Defines marriage in the United States as consisting only of the union of a man and a woman. Prohibits either the U.S. Constitution or the constitution of any state from being construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon any other union.
| June 28, 2013
| [[Tim Huelskamp]]<br />(R-KS)
| 58
| Referred to the Subcommittee on the [[United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice|Constitution and Civil Justice]]
|-
| [[114th Congress]]
| Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage.
| {{USBill|114|H.J.Res.|32}}
|
| February 12, 2015
| [[Tim Huelskamp]]<br />(R-KS)
| 30 
| Died in Congress. Never made it out of the committee due to not enough votes on the proposal.
|}

===Article V convention initiated by state legislatures===
On April 2, 2014, the [[Alabama House of Representatives]] adopted a joint resolution calling for an [[Article Five of the United States Constitution|Article V]] convention to draft an amendment to the federal Constitution to define marriage as the union of only one man and only one woman in all jurisdictions of the United States.<ref>{{cite news|title=Alabama House approves call to put same-sex marriage ban in U.S. Constitution |url=http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20140402/NEWS/304020079/Alabama-House-approves-call-put-same-sex-marriage-ban-U-S-Constitution |access-date=April 3, 2014 |newspaper=Montgomery Advertiser |date=April 2, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140412171146/http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20140402/NEWS/304020079/Alabama-House-approves-call-put-same-sex-marriage-ban-U-S-Constitution |archive-date=April 12, 2014 }}</ref>

==Public opinion==

{{Main|Public opinion of same-sex marriage in the United States}}

===Nationwide polling===

Polling on the subject has fluctuated widely, with opposition for such an amendment increasing steadily for more than a decade.  Beginning in 2010 polls have found majority support for legal recognition of [[same-sex marriage in the United States|same-sex marriage]]. A [[Gallup (company)|Gallup]] poll conducted in May 2014 found that 55% of Americans support allowing marriage for same-sex couples, the largest percentage ever measured by the organization.<ref>{{cite web|title=Same-Sex Marriage Support Reaches New High at 55%|date=May 21, 2014|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/169640/sex-marriage-support-reaches-new-high.aspx|publisher=Gallup Polling|access-date=May 22, 2014}}</ref> The same poll found only 42% opposed, and 4% had no opinion on the issue.

A 2012 Fox News poll found that 38% of American voters support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, while 53% oppose.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fox News poll: Majority opposes gay marriage, doesn't want constitutional amendment|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-majority-opposes-gay-marriage-doesnt-want-constitutional-amendment|access-date=August 3, 2013|newspaper=CNN|date=May 16, 2012}}</ref> A 2012 United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection poll found that only 24% of Americans agreed that Congress should "pass a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in every state regardless of state law."<ref>{{cite news|title=Public Opposes Gay Weddings at Military Facilities|url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/public-opposes-gay-weddings-at-military-facilities-20120521|access-date=August 3, 2013|newspaper=National Journal|date=May 21, 2012}}</ref>

A 2011 AP-NCC poll found that 48% of Americans said they would favor such an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, with about 40% strongly favoring such a change.  However, 55% believe the issue should be handled at the state level.<ref>{{cite news|title=AP-NCC Poll: Narrow majority supports legal recognition of gay marriage, as issue roils states|url=http://ap-gfkpoll.com/featured/ap-ncc-poll-narrow-majority-supports-legal-recognition-of-gay-marriage-as-issue-roils-states|access-date=August 3, 2013|newspaper=ap-gfkpoll|date=September 16, 2011}}</ref>

A 2006 APR poll found that 33% of Americans favored amending the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, while 49% felt each state should make its own laws on marriage, and 18% were unsure. In May 2006, a Gallup poll found that 50% of Americans would favor amending the federal Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, while 47% were opposed, and 3% were undecided or did not respond.<ref>{{cite news|title=FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENTS (FMA) TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/maramend14.htm#|access-date=August 3, 2013|newspaper=religioustolerance}}</ref> An ABC News poll that year found that 42% of Americans supported amending the U.S. Constitution, banning same-sex marriage.<ref>{{cite news|title=Most Oppose Gay Marriage; Fewer Back an Amendment|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/Politics/story?id=2041689&page=1|access-date=August 3, 2013|newspaper=CNN|date=June 5, 2006}}</ref>

A 2003 Wirthlin poll found that 57% of Americans supported a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman.<ref>{{cite news|title=National Poll Finds Most Americans Support A Constitutional Amendment to Defend Marriage|url=http://www.pulpithelps.com/www/docs/1-6456|access-date=August 3, 2013|newspaper=pulpithelps|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907122025/http://www.pulpithelps.com/www/docs/1-6456|archive-date=September 7, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===State polling===
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2014}}
{{Main|Public opinion of same-sex marriage in the United States#Demographic differences}}

Public opinion varies widely between different states. Only two states, [[Mississippi]] and [[Alabama]], had public opinion generally more opposed to same sex marriage than in favor in 2017, with only Alabama having an absolute majority, 51%, opposed; in Mississippi, there was plurality opposition.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ava.prri.org/#lgbt/2017/States/lgbt_ssm/2,3,9|title = PRRI – American Values Atlas}}</ref> In [[Louisiana]], [[Tennessee]], [[North Carolina]], and [[West Virginia]], there was plurality support; in all other states, there was absolute majority support. The lowest approval of same sex marriage was 41% in Alabama. The highest was 80% in [[Vermont]] and [[Massachusetts]].

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:H.J.Res106: Federal Marriage Amendment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216011359/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:H.J.Res106: |date=December 16, 2012 }}, considered by the 108th Congress
*[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:H.J.Res88: Federal Marriage Amendment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215231908/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:H.J.Res88: |date=December 15, 2012 }}, considered by the 109th Congress
*[https://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-02-17-marriage_x.htm "Marriage will be defined nationally — but how?"] [[USAToday]].com.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120926064457/http://judiciary.house.gov/legacy/93656.PDF Federal Marriage Amendment (The Musgrave Amendment)] Hearing before the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. United States House of Representatives. 108th Congress, 2nd Session. May 13, 2004.
*[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_senate_hearings&docid=f:24661.wais An Examination of the Constitutional Amendment on Marriage] Hearing before the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights. United States Senate. 109th Congress, 1st Session. October 20, 2005.
*{{webarchive |url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20090510192631/http://www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/marriagesumm.htm |title=Summary of Federal Marriage Amendment |date=2009-05-10}} – [[National Conference of State Legislatures]]

{{LGBT rights in the United States}}
{{Constitution of the United States}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Same-sex union legislation in the United States]]
[[Category:Proposed amendments to the United States Constitution]]
[[Category:Conservatism in the United States]]
[[Category:Opposition to same-sex marriage in the United States]]
[[Category:United States proposed federal LGBTQ legislation]]