Navajo Nation legislator unveils new push for same-sex marriage
NAVAJO NATION - There is a renewed effort at the Navajo Nation legislature to legalize same-sex marriage for the Native American nation.
According to a statement released on June 26, Delegate Seth Damon, who represents various Navajo communities in Northwestern New Mexico, signed and sponsored Legislation 0139-23.
Legislation 0139-23, according to documents available on the Navajo Nation's website, will repeal a portion of Navajo Nation Code's Title 9. Specifically, it repeals a portion that makes all same-sex marriages "void and prohibited" on the Native American tribal nation.
In addition, the bill will substitute gendered language in various parts of Navajo Nation's marriage laws with gender-neutral language.
In the statement, Navajo Nation officials said the method for a traditional Navajo wedding ceremony involving a man and a woman will not be changed, and that keeping the traditional Navajo wedding will not ban or deny same-sex marriages, as there are other wedding methods available under Navajo law.
The Navajo Nation covers portions of Northwestern New Mexico and Northeastern Arizona. There was also a bill introduced in 2022 to legalize same-sex marriage on the Navajo Nation, but the bill expired at the end of the legislative session that year.
Same-sex marriage recognition differs on Native American lands
While same-sex marriage has been legal across the U.S. since the Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling in 2015, tribal recognition of same-sex marriage is not uniform. According to a 2021 article published by NPR member station Blue Ridge Public Radio, about 40 federally recognized Native American tribes recognize same-sex marriage, and 10 tribes prohibit it.
In Arizona, the Gila River Indian Community bans same-sex marriage within its borders, while a number of other tribes, including the Colorado River Indian Tribes, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, and the Yavapai-Apache Tribe have legalized same-sex marriage, either explicitly or by way of Arizona state law.
The rainbow flag, considered for decades to be a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community. (Photo by Earvin Perias/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)