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Idaho Legislature passed HJR002, referring constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and other unmarried unions to voters

The Idaho Legislature completed passage of House Joint Resolution 2 (HJR002) on February 15, 2006, referring a new Section 28 to Article III of the Idaho Constitution to voters, providing that "a marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state." The House passed the measure 53-17 on February 6, 2006, and the Senate gave final passage 26-9 on February 15, 2006, completing the legislature's referral.

Jurisdiction
Idaho
Location
Boise, Idaho

Abuses documented

Actors

  • Idaho House of Representatives (Legislative Chamber)
  • Idaho Senate (Legislative Chamber)

On February 15, 2006, the Idaho Legislature completed final passage of House Joint Resolution 2 (HJR002), referring a new Section 28 to Article III of the Idaho Constitution to the November 2006 ballot. The proposed amendment states: "A marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state." The Idaho House of Representatives, sponsored by State Affairs Committee and floor-sponsored by Rep. Lawerence Denney, passed the measure 53-17 on February 6, 2006. The Idaho Senate, floor-sponsored by Sen. Robert Geddes, gave final passage 26-9 on February 15, 2006, sending the referral to voters.

The resolution's Statement of Purpose confirmed that its intent reached beyond barring recognition of same-sex marriage: it sought to prevent state or local recognition of civil unions, domestic partnerships, or any other legal relationship approximating marriage. Voters approved the measure as Amendment 2 with 63% support in the November 2006 general election.

Updates

2014-05-13 — Federal magistrate judge struck down Amendment 2 as unconstitutional [3]

A U.S. magistrate judge ruled Idaho's Amendment 2 unconstitutional; the ruling was stayed pending appeal.

2014-10-07 — Ninth Circuit affirmed ruling striking down Amendment 2 [4]

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's ruling against Amendment 2; enforcement remained stayed until October 15, 2014 following a brief U.S. Supreme Court stay.

2015-06-26 — Obergefell v. Hodges superseded state same-sex marriage bans nationally [5]

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that state bans on same-sex marriage violated the Fourteenth Amendment, making same-sex marriage permanently legal in Idaho and superseding Amendment 2 nationally.

Why we recorded this

Equal protection under law means government cannot write discrimination against a protected class into its founding charter. Idaho's Legislature completed bicameral passage of a constitutional amendment barring the state from recognizing marriage, civil unions, or any other unmarried domestic union — a scope its own Statement of Purpose confirms extends beyond marriage to any relationship approximating it. This archive records when lawmakers use the constitutional amendment process itself to entrench discrimination against LGBTQ people's legal relationships, placing that discrimination beyond the reach of ordinary legislation.

Sources

  1. HJR002 Bill Status — Idaho State Legislature primary accessed July 20, 2026
  2. 2006 Idaho Amendment 2 — Wikipedia secondary accessed July 20, 2026
  3. Latta v. Otter, Memorandum Decision and Order (May 13, 2014) — CourtListener (U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho) primary accessed July 20, 2026
  4. Latta v. Otter, Opinion (Oct. 7, 2014) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary accessed July 20, 2026
  5. Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015) — CourtListener (Supreme Court of the United States) primary accessed July 20, 2026

See also