Navajo Nation Seeks To Legalize Gay Marriage, Setting Off Debate | Queer News Tonight
Channel: Queer News Tonight
Date: 2022-04-12

Navajo Council Delegate Eugene Tso sponsored a bill in late March that would repeal or make gender-neutral sections of the Diné Marriage Act, which passed in 2005.  This would potentially legalize same-sex marriage for members of the Navajo Nation, one of the nation's largest holdouts.  Same-sex Navajo couples who received marriage licenses in the Nation are not recognized to be married on the Nation, current law states. The Navajo Nation’s estimated 173,000 residents are the biggest group of tribal members in the country whose same-sex couples don’t enjoy the same rights as straight couples.  While the Supreme Court's 2015 ruling stops states from banning gay marriage, tribal lands follow their own laws.  For example, the Cherokee Nation recently upheld their ban on same-sex marriages, although they do honor unions made outside of Tribal lands.