I n the United States, marriage licenses are granted by individual states, not the Federal system. No religious affiliation or ceremony is required.
Marriage licenses are legal contracts between the couple and the state.
Marriage licenses are also recognized by international treaties and remain valid from one country to another. Since favorable rulings in Hawaii, Alaska and Vermont courts, many U.S. state legislators have scrambled to enact laws that they hope will prevent recognition of legal same-sex marriages. Some legislators fear that, should a suit finally, immediately demand legal marriage, all other states would be required to honor that marriage license. For complete listings of the anti-marriage bills, please see Legislative Reactions to Legal Marriage . Partners thanks Alan Easton for his frequent and invaluable bill status updates.