Going to the Chapel? Same-Sex Marriage Bans in the United States, 1973–2000

This article analyzes state-level same-sex marriage bans from 1973 to 2000 focusing on the relative impact of the political opportunity structure, citizen ideology, and interest organization strength on this particular policy change. Results suggest that all of these factors must be considered together to discern the relative importance of each, and that it is important to understand how these factors interact to produce policy change. Specifically, results show that interest organizations on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate, citizen ideology, and previous policy environments all influenced the adoption of these bans. While no support for political mediation arguments was found, when interest organizations on both sides of this issue were mobilized, supporters of bans were more important to legislative decisions than were non-supporters.