2,044 events on record Subscribe September 10, 2026
Standing Record home The Standing Record A non-partisan record of US democratic norms —
and the events that erode them.

Timeline › 2004 › May › 14

May 14, 2004

2 entries on this date.

Missouri General Assembly passed SJR29, constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage

On May 14, 2004, the Missouri General Assembly gave final legislative passage to Senate Joint Resolution 29 (SJR29), sponsored by Sen. Sarah Steelman, proposing a constitutional amendment declaring that only a marriage between a man and a woman would be valid or recognized in Missouri and barring legal recognition of any status resembling marriage for unmarried persons. The Missouri Senate had passed SJR29 on March 1, 2004; the House passed it on May 14, 2004, and the measure was certified as "Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed," sending it to the ballot as Amendment 2. As a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, SJR29 bypassed the governor's signature and veto power entirely.

New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson signed SB 427, denying legal recognition to out-of-state same-sex marriages

On May 14, 2004, New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson signed Senate Bill 427 (Chapter 100, Laws of 2004), enacting a statutory bar to legal recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages in New Hampshire. The act repealed and reenacted RSA 457:3 to withhold legal validity from any out-of-state marriage prohibited under New Hampshire law — effectively targeting same-sex marriages from states such as Massachusetts, which had begun issuing same-sex marriage licenses three days later. The legislation also created a legislative-executive-judicial commission to study all aspects of same-sex civil marriage and its legal equivalents, with a final report due December 1, 2005.