Same-sex marriage has been legal in Alabama since June 26, 2015, in accordance with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. Not all counties immediately complied with the ruling, copying behavior from the civil rights era when they had refused to perform interracial marriages. A year after the Supreme Court ruling, twelve counties would either issue licenses to no one or only to opposite-sex couples. By 2017, this number had dropped to only eight counties, with all eight refusing to issue licenses to anyone. In May 2019, the Alabama Legislature passed a bill replacing the option that counties issue marriage licenses and perform marriage ceremonies with the requirement of counties to record marriage certificates. Subsequently, all counties complied and announced on August 29, 2019 that they would record marriage certificates for interracial and same-sex couples. Previously, Alabama had banned the licensing of same-sex marriages and the recognition of such marriages from other jurisdictions by executive order in 1996, by statute in 1998, and by constitutional amendment in June 2006.
Before the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell on June 26, 2015, which held that the U.S. Constitution requires every U.S. state to recognize and license same-sex marriage, the legal status of same-sex marriage in Alabama had been the subject of a long legal battle. On January 23, 2015, Judge Callie V.S. Granade of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama ruled in Searcy v. Strange that Alabama's refusal to license and recognize same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. She ordered the Attorney General, Luther Strange, to stop enforcing the state's same-sex marriage bans. The Alabama Probate Judges Association issued a statement on January 24 that said "there is nothing in the judge's order [in Searcy] that requires probate judges in Alabama to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples." The order took effect on February 9, 2015, and 47 of the state's 67 counties began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples that day or shortly thereafter, despite an order from Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore not to do so. The other counties either issued licenses only to opposite-sex couples or stopped issuing marriage licenses altogether. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court had declined state officials' requests for a stay. On March 3, 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court, ruling in a different case, ordered the state's probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and they promptly complied, though a number of them refused to issue any marriage licenses at all. At least 545 same-sex couples married between February 9 and March 3, 2015. Advocates for same-sex marriage rights responded with renewed efforts in federal court, and on May 21, 2015, a federal court ruled that all probate judges were obliged not to refuse to issue marriage licenses on the basis of the applicants being of the same sex, but stayed its ruling pending action by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Legal restrictions On August 29, 1996, Governor Fob James issued an executive order banning same-sex marriage and the recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states or foreign countries. On April 9, 1998, the Alabama State House voted 79–12 in favor of a bill banning same-sex marriage and the recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states or foreign countries. On April 13, 1998, the Alabama State Senate approved the bill in a 30–0 vote. Governor Fob James signed it into law. On March 8, 2006, the Alabama House voted 85–7 in favor of Amendment 774, a constitutional amendment to the Constitution of Alabama banning same-sex marriage and a "union replicating marriage of or between persons of the same sex" in the state. On March 11, 2006, the Alabama Senate approved the bill in a 30–0 vote, and on June 6, 2006, Alabama voters endorsed the amendment with 81% voting in favor.Baptist Press: Michael Foust, "Ala. becomes 20th state to pass marriage amendment," June 7, 2006, accessed July 5, 2011
Lawsuits
Aaron-Brush v. Bentley A plaintiff couple filed suit on June 10, 2014 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, seeking recognition of their out-of-state marriage. The due date for motions was set at July 31, 2015, to allow for action by the U.S. Supreme Court in other cases. Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell, the state filed a motion to dismiss the case. The court dismissed the case on October 13, 2015.
Hard v. Strange On February 13, 2014, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama on behalf of Paul Hard, challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage, both in its statutes and Constitution. Hard and his late husband, David Fancher, Alabama natives, had married in Massachusetts on May 20, 2011. Fancher died in an accident on August 1. The suit, originally Hard v. Bentley, named Governor Robert J. Bentley as the principal defendant, as well as several other government officials. Hard asked for a corrected death certificate and recognition as Fancher's surviving spouse, entitled to a share of the proceeds of a wrongful death suit filed by the administrator of Fancher's estate. Fancher's mother, who opposed Hard's claims and was supported by the Foundation for Moral Law, asked the district court for a ruling on her motion for summary judgement on February 5, 2015. On February 9, the Alabama Department of Public Health provided Hard a corrected death certificate. On March 10, the court removed Governor Bentley as a defendant and stayed proceedings pending action by the U.S. Supreme Court in same-sex marriage cases then scheduled for review.
On July 1, 2015, Hard asked the court to lift its stay and release the wrongful death proceeds, citing the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell. The district court did so on July 15. Pat Fancher appealed the court's ruling against her. On April 20, 2016, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the district court and ruled for Hard.
Searcy v. Strange Plaintiffs Cari Searcy and Kimberly McKeand filed a lawsuit, originally Searcy v. Bentley, on May 7, 2014, seeking recognition of their out-of-state marriage and second-parent adoption for their minor son. In mid-June, attorneys for the couple filed a motion for summary judgment; the state defendants filed a motion to dismiss. On January 23, 2015, Judge Callie V.S. Granade of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama ruled that Alabama's refusal to license and recognize same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. She ordered the Attorney General of Alabama, Luther Strange, to stop enforcing those bans. The plaintiffs' attorneys hoped the state would comply, though other LGBT rights advocates anticipated further litigation. Legislative leaders denounced the ruling of "a single unelected and unaccountable federal judge" or saw the ruling as evidence that "traditional values espoused by Alabamians have begun to erode even in our conservative state". Strange immediately asked for a stay of her ruling. On January 25, the plaintiffs asked the court to clarify its order, describing the probate judges "like George Wallace at the schoolhouse door staring defiantly upon this Court's order". They cited at length a 1970 ruling involving the same group of government officials that had ended enforcement of Alabama's anti-miscegenation statute, United States v. Brittain, which extended a ruling from one interracial couple who sought a marriage license and "requir[ed] the Attorney General of the State of Alabama to advise the Judges of Probate of the several counties of Alabama" to cease enforcement of an invalid law. On January 25, Judge Granade stayed her ruling for 14 days to allow Strange to seek a longer stay from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
On January 26, Attorney General Strange filed a notice of appeal in the Eleventh Circuit, and asked for a stay of the district court's ruling pending appeal. Governor Bentley and the Probate Judges Association filed an amicus curiae in support of his request. On January 28, Judge Granade clarified her order, quoting at length from Judge Robert Lewis Hinkle's warning in the Florida case of Brenner v. Scott that those who fail to comply will bear the costs of additional suits that will produce the same result and, still quoting Hinkle: "There should be no debate ... on the question of whether a [state official] may follow the ruling, even for marriage-license applicants who are not parties to this case."
Strawser v. Strange On January 27, 2015, Judge Granade ruled in favor of a male couple seeking the right to marry in Alabama. She stayed her ruling temporarily, setting the stay to expire on February 9 with her stay in Searcy. The couple, James N. Strawser and John E. Humphrey, had filed their suit in September 2014 without assistance of counsel after being denied a marriage license at the Mobile County Courthouse in July. At a half-hour hearing before Judge Granade on December 18, 2014, each of them testified and Strawser questioned their only other witness, Bishop David M. Carnrike, a minister of the United Gospel Holiness Church of America and presiding bishop of the Staff of Life Church Conference, who had married them on August 16. James W. Davis of the Attorney General's office cross-examined all three. On January 29, the National Center for Lesbian Rights took on the plaintiffs' representation.
Reactions to Searcy and Strawser rulings The Alabama Probate Judges Association issued a statement on January 24 that said "There is nothing in the judge's order [in Searcy] that requires probate judges in Alabama to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples." The next day, the editorial board of AL.com called on Governor Bentley and state legislators to end their opposition to same-sex marriage. On January 27, the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Roy Moore, released a letter addressed to Governor Bentley, in which he said that:
He welcomed the recent letter from the Probate Judges Association and warned any judge who might issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple that "the issuance of such licenses would be in defiance of the laws and Constitution of Alabama." Saying that his court was not bound by U.S. district court rulings, he wrote to Governor Bentley: "Be advised that I stand with you to stop judicial tyranny and any unlawful opinions issue without constitutional authority." Bentley responded that: "The people of Alabama voted in a constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between man and woman. As Governor, I must uphold the Constitution. I am disappointed in Friday's ruling, and I will continue to oppose this ruling. The Federal Government must not infringe on the rights of states."
Once Judge Granade clarified her order on January 28, the Probate Judges Association acknowledged that her order in Searcy, if lifted, required counties to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and said it would encourage its members to comply. On February 5, the Alabama Department of Public Health provided the state's probate courts with a revised marriage license application form that replaced the terms "bride" and "groom" with "spouse" and "spouse". Moore sent an order to probate judges and state employees late on February 8, the day before Granade's order was set to take effect, threatening legal action by Governor Bentley against anyone who complied with her order.