The right of same sex marriage has brought up much news and controversy over the last couple years. So far, out of the 50 states, 35 are allowing same sex. However, that leaves fifteen states which still have bans. Some of the states are in the process of getting the bans repealed, but most  remaining states still have complete bans on same sex marriage.

Starting in 1979, Wisconsin banned same sex marriage, but not until 1994 and 1995 with bans by Hawaii and North Carolina respectively. However, bans spiked in 1996, following the Defense of Marriage Act which went into place that September. At that point, more than half of the United States banned same sex marriage. This didn’t change until 2003 when Massachusetts was the first to legalize same sex marriage, followed by Connecticut in 2007.

From early 2013 to today, legalizing same sex marriage gained much popularity within the controversy, such as recently when a gay couple moved from New York (legal) to Florida (non-legal). Their drivers licenses have since been revoked, due to the fact that they were married in New York, and their marriage licenses say “spouse” instead of saying anything about the couple being gay. Now Florida has announced that it will legalize same sex marriage on the fifth of January 2015, with couples being able to marry as soon as the following day. With such determination being found in Florida, the rest of the 14 states might be following close behind.

Ben Odom, Staff Writer

Sophomore Ben Odom is a staff writer for the 2014-2015 Colonel. He plays percussion in Marching Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Orchestra.