Utah Gov. Olene Walker signed SB 24, banning state recognition of same-sex marriages and equivalent relationships

On March 23, 2004, Utah Governor Olene Walker signed S.B. 24 ("Marriage Recognition Policy") into law, effective the same day as Session Law Chapter 261. Sponsored by Sen. Chris Buttars with Rep. Margaret Dayton as floor sponsor, the bill passed the Utah Senate 24–4 and the Utah House 62–12 before being sent to the governor. The enacted law banned recognition of same-sex marriages and any relationship status "substantially equivalent" to marriage within Utah—a statutory non-recognition provision targeting same-sex couples by name.

S.B. 24 was a statutory "mini-DOMA," enacted during the same 2004 general session as HJR 025, a joint resolution that referred Amendment 3—a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and domestic unions—to Utah voters. The two measures represented parallel tracks in a coordinated legislative effort to foreclose any legal recognition of same-sex relationships in Utah. Amendment 3 was approved by Utah voters on November 2, 2004, and took effect January 1, 2005; as a constitutional provision, it effectively superseded the statutory S.B. 24.

Updates

2015-06-26 — Obergefell v. Hodges voided S.B. 24 and Utah's Amendment 3 [2]

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires all states to license and recognize same-sex marriages, voiding state statutory and constitutional provisions—including Utah's S.B. 24 and Amendment 3—that denied recognition of same-sex marriages.