Legal restrictions In 1975, Nevada's marriage
statute was amended to expressly state that "a male and a female person...may be joined in marriage". The LGBT community in Nevada enjoyed a series of political victories in the 1990s, including the repeal of a law that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations and the passage of a law banning
discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation. "Caught by surprise and unprepared", LGBT activists were severely underfunded compared to their opponents, who ran media campaigns and raised billboards. Most of the funding to opponents of same-sex marriage came from
Mormons in Nevada. A month after Question 2 was approved by Nevada voters, the government of the
Republic of Molossia, an unrecognized
micronation near
Dayton, issued a proclamation regarding same-sex marriage effective from December 29, that "Discrimination against any individual in any manner on the grounds of sexual orientation is absolutely prohibited. [...] This prohibition includes but is not limited to: discrimination as regards marriage (Partnering), inheritance, jobs, justice and the redress of wrongs, education, and spiritual sustenance. [...] Furthermore, no distinction will be made between homosexual relationships and heterosexual relationships. Both will be treated equally by the Government of the Republic of Molossia, its agencies, any private organization or agency (to include religious institutions), and any and all private citizens."
Repeal of discriminatory laws A bill to make the marriage statute
gender-neutral was introduced to the
Nevada State Assembly by Representative
Ellen Spiegel on February 21, 2017. The legislation passed the Assembly on April 17 in a 28–10 vote, and the
Senate followed on May 17 with a 20–1 vote. It was signed into law by Governor
Brian Sandoval on May 26, and took effect on July 1, 2017. Nevada statutes now read: In 2013, the
Nevada Legislature began work on legislation to repeal the constitutional ban and substitute in its place a gender-neutral definition of marriage. The Senate approved such legislation on April 22 on a 12–9 vote, and the Nevada Assembly passed the resolution on May 23 by a 27–14 vote. It would have required approval by the next legislative session in 2015 and by voters in the 2016 election to take effect. However, as
Republicans took control of the Senate following the
2014 elections, no second vote was held. On February 1, 2017, after the
Democratic Party took control of the Senate following the
2016 elections, identical legislation (known as
Assembly Joint Resolution 2) was introduced to repeal the now-defunct ban on same-sex marriage. The resolution passed the Assembly on March 9 in a 27–14 vote. The Senate amended it to include a religious exemption, after which it passed the bill on May 1 in a 19–2 vote. The Assembly approved the Senate's amendment on May 2. The resolution returned to the Nevada Legislature in February 2019. It was approved by the Assembly on March 29 in a 38–2 vote and by the Senate on May 23, 2019, in a 19–2 vote. As
Question 2, it was placed on the
November 6, 2020 ballot, and approved with 62% of the vote. It passed in four counties:
Clark (64.7%),
Washoe (63.5%),
Douglas (52.3%) and
Storey (50.4%), as well as
Carson City (58.0%). Opposition was highest in
Eureka (68.4%),
Lincoln (68.0%),
Esmeralda (66.0%) and
Pershing (60.4%) counties. The constitutional amendment went into force on November 24, 2020, making Nevada the first
U.S. state to explicitly affirm the right to marry regardless of gender in its state constitution. Section 21 of Article 1 of the Nevada Constitution now reads:
Lawsuits Sevcik v. Sandoval On April 10, 2012,
Lambda Legal filed suit in the
U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. In the case of
Sevcik v. Sandoval, it argued that "[n]o legitimate ... interest exists to exclude same-sex couples from the historic and highly venerated institution of marriage, especially where the State already grants lesbians and gay men access to almost all substantive spousal rights and responsibilities through registered domestic partnership." The case raised equal protection claims but did not assert a fundamental right to marry. On November 29, 2012, Judge
Robert C. Jones ruled against the plaintiffs, holding that "the maintenance of the traditional institution of civil marriage as between one man and one woman is a legitimate state interest". The decision was
appealed to the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In February 2014, the state withdrew its brief defending Nevada's ban on same-sex marriage. Governor
Brian Sandoval stated: "It has become clear that this case is no longer defensible in court". On October 7, 2014, the Ninth Circuit reversed the decision of the federal district court and remanded it back to the district court, ordering it to issue an
injunction to bar enforcement of Nevada's amendment banning same-sex marriage. The court held that Nevada's ban on same-sex marriage constituted a violation of same-sex couples'
Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection. The court also applied heightened scrutiny in concluding that Nevada's ban constituted discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation. On October 9, Judge
James C. Mahan issued the injunction and same-sex couples began obtaining
marriage licenses. The Ninth Circuit held: Representative
Lucy Flores welcomed the court ruling, saying, "Allowing people to marry who they love is the right thing to do." Senator
Michael Roberson said that "[t]he state of Nevada should not discriminate against anyone", while Senator
Justin Jones said, "This decision wasn't about being a Democrat or a Republican, but about giving those who love one another, regardless of gender, the rights we all deserve." Secretary of State
Ross Miller welcomed the court ruling. The first same-sex couple to receive a marriage license were Kristy Best and Wednesday Smith at around 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 9 in
Carson City. Theo Small and Antioco Carillo were the first couple to be issued a license in
Las Vegas shortly after 5 p.m. on October 9, followed a few minutes later by State Senator
Kelvin Atkinson and his partner Sherwood Howard.
LaFrance v. Cline The
Nevada Supreme Court ruled unanimously in
LaFrance v. Cline on December 23, 2020, that the
U.S. Supreme Court's decision in
Obergefell v. Hodges obliges the state to retroactively recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other jurisdictions. Mary Elizabeth LaFrance and Gail Cline had a
civil union ceremony in
Vermont in 2000 and legally wed in
Canada in 2003, but their marriage was not recognized in Nevada at the time. In 2014, they
divorced and filed for judicial dissolution. The trial court had to decide what property and assets were part of the "community" for purposes of division of assets. District Court Judge Mathew Harter concluded that pursuant to
Obergefell he should find that their "community" came into effect when the couple entered into their civil union in 2000, and divided property accordingly. LaFrance appealed, contending that their marital community, for purposes of Nevada law, did not come into effect until the
Sevcik decision in 2014. The Nevada Supreme Court decided that a Vermont civil union could be recognized for these purposes solely if the couple had registered it as a domestic partnership, which LaFrance and Cline did not do. The court concluded that their marital community was formed in 2003 in Canada. Even though it was not recognized in Nevada at the time, the court found that it must be retroactively recognized pursuant to
Obergefell.
Native American nations The
Indian Civil Rights Act, also known as
Public Law 90–284, primarily aims to protect the rights of
Native Americans but also reinforces the principle of tribal self-governance. While it does not grant sovereignty, the Act affirms the authority of tribes to govern their own legal affairs. Consequently, many tribes have enacted their own marriage and family laws. As a result, the
Sevcik ruling and the Supreme Court's
Obergefell ruling did not automatically apply to tribal jurisdictions. The Law and Order Code of the
Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe states that marriage is governed by state law rather than tribal law. As such, same-sex marriage is legal on its reservation. The Law and Order Code of the
Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe generally refers to married spouses as "husband and wife", but states that marriages legally entered into outside the tribe's jurisdiction are recognized. Similar language is found in the codes of the
Yomba Shoshone Tribe, and the
Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. The Law and Order Code of the Washoe Tribe generally refers to married spouses as "husband and wife", but does not explicitly ban same-sex marriage. The Code requires the married couple, known in
Washo as (), to "consent to the establishment of the relationship of husband and wife between themselves". The laws of the
Ely Shoshone Tribe do not allow for the solemnization of same-sex marriages. Its Tribal Code states that "a male and a female person, at least 18 years of age, not nearer of kin than second cousins or cousins of the half blood, and not having a husband or wife living, may be joined in marriage." Native Americans have deep-rooted marriage traditions, placing a strong emphasis on community, family and spiritual connections. While there are no records of same-sex marriages being performed in Native American cultures in the way they are commonly defined in
Western legal systems, many Indigenous communities recognize identities and relationships that may be placed on the LGBT spectrum. Among these are
two-spirit individuals—people who embody both masculine and feminine qualities. In some cultures, two-spirit individuals assigned male at birth wear women's clothing and engage in household and artistic work associated with the feminine sphere. Historically, this identity sometimes allowed for unions between two people of the same biological sex. It was considered inappropriate, however, for two to form a relationship. The
Northern Paiute refer to two-spirit people who cross out of the masculine gender as (), and they were likewise free to marry either men or women. 954 same-sex marriages were performed in Clark County in 2014, followed by 4,055 in 2015, 4,778 in 2016, 4,418 in 2017, 4,269 in 2018, 4,233 in 2019, 3,469 in 2020, and 4,563 in 2021. Often referred to as the "
Marriage Capital of the World",
Las Vegas (and adjacent communities in Clark County) has one of the highest marriage rates in the U.S., attracting many couples from other states and overseas. In 2019, 420 same-sex spouses were from
Mexico, 350 from
England, 326 from
China, 213 from the
Philippines, 147 from
Canada, 143 from
Germany, 115 from
France, 90 from
Australia and 87 from
Brazil, as well as several dozen from
Israel,
Spain,
Cuba,
Vietnam,
Italy,
Venezuela,
Scotland,
El Salvador and
Thailand. The
2020 U.S. census showed that there were 8,518 married same-sex couple households (4,431 male couples and 4,087 female couples) and 5,986 unmarried same-sex couple households in Nevada. ==Public opinion==