Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Pennsylvania since May 20, 2014, when the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled that the state's statutory ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional in Whitewood v. Wolf. Governor Tom Corbett announced the following day that he would not appeal the decision. Pennsylvania was the eighteenth U.S. state and the last in the Northeastern United States to legalize same-sex marriage. Polling suggests that a large majority of Pennsylvania residents support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, with a 2024 poll from the Public Religion Research Institute showing that 68% of residents supported same-sex marriage.
Pennsylvania had previously prohibited the recognition of same-sex marriage by statute since 1996, but had never added such a ban to its State Constitution. Efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in 2009 and 2013 were unsuccessful due to opposition from conservative members of the General Assembly. The state has also never recognized civil unions or domestic partnerships which would have provided couples with some of the rights and benefits of marriage.
Legal history Statutes On May 8, 1996, Representative Allan Egolf introduced legislation to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to ban same-sex marriages and prohibit the recognition of marriages performed in other states. The bill bypassed the House Judiciary Committee in the hopes of speeding its passage before the next election. On June 28, the House considered a bill to amend state statutes to allow for grandparents to adopt grandchildren over the objections of their parents. Egolf introduced an amendment to this bill that paralleled his anti-marriage bill. The Republican-controlled House voted to add this anti-marriage amendment to the adoption bill. The vote on the amendment was 177–16. An effort to rule it unconstitutional failed by a vote of 171 to 29. The bill, which had already passed the Senate, was sent back for a concurrence vote. After this vote, the House recessed for the summer. On October 1, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 43–5 to approve the anti-marriage language added by the House. Governor Tom Ridge signed the act into law on October 8.Western Pennsylvania Endorsees of the Marriage ResolutionSENATE DEMOCRATIC WRAP-UP FOR THE 1995-1996 LEGISLATIVE SESSION The same year, the United States Congress also passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA; ), which banned federal recognition of same-sex marriages.
Several attempts to recognize same-sex marriages failed in the General Assembly while the Republican Party had majorities in either the Senate or the House of Representatives. Legislation to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples by amending state statutes has been introduced to the General Assembly several times. In May 2009, Senator Daylin Leach introduced such a bill to the Senate. Representative Babette Josephs also introduced a similar bill to the House of Representatives. Both bills remained in committee, and died at the end of the legislative session. In March 2013, Senator Leach introduced another bill, and in June 2013 representatives Brian Sims and Steve McCarter introduced a same-sex marriage bill to the House, following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in United States v. Windsor. Both bills died at the end of the legislative session.
Representative Malcolm Kenyatta introduced a bill to repeal the statutory ban in 2021, but it failed to pass before the General Assembly adjourned sine die. A similar bill was introduced in 2023 by representatives Kenyatta, Danilo Burgos, Jessica Benham, and Jamie Flick. A new bill was introduced in May 2024 with 39 sponsors. It passed the House on July 2, 2024 by a vote of 133–68, but was not brought to a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate. The bill was reintroduced in August 2025. In March 2026, the bill was passed on the House by a vote of 127-72. It was passed with bipartisan support with all Democrats except Frank Burns supporting the bill along with 26 Republicans.
Attempts to pass constitutional ban In Pennsylvania, a constitutional amendment requires approval by both chambers of the General Assembly in two successive two-year sessions before going to voters in a referendum. In 2006, five state representatives, with Representative Scott W. Boyd as a main sponsor, introduced House Bill 2381, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Pennsylvania defining marriage as "the union of one man and one woman". The bill had 87 cosponsors and was approved on June 6, 2006 on a vote of 136–61. The Senate approved the bill 38–12 on June 21, 2006. It was referred to the Rules Committee in the House of Representatives on June 22, 2006, where no action was taken. In 2008, a similar bill with Senator Mike Brubaker as its main sponsor, Senate Bill 1250, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It would have banned same-sex marriage and its "functional equivalent". This language led to debate on whether the bill would not only ban same-sex marriage and civil unions, but also prevent hospital visitation, employer health care benefits and recognition of a will for same-sex couples. The bill was laid on the table on May 6, 2008 because the House of Representatives would not allow it to be considered by the State Government Committee in a timely manner. Senator Brubaker requested the bill be laid aside. The Senate agreed to the motion by a voice vote.
In 2010, Senator John Eichelberger introduced new legislation, Senate Bill 707, to ban same-sex marriages in the State Constitution. This proposed amendment failed in the Judiciary Committee, when all 5 Democrats and 3 Republicans voted to table the amendment against the opposition of 6 Republicans. On May 3, 2011, Representative Daryl Metcalfe introduced House Bill 1434 with 36 cosponsors. It was referred to the State Government Committee. The bill would have constitutionally banned same-sex marriage and any "substantial equivalent". On March 13, 2012, opponents of the bill claimed victory when Metcalfe delayed a committee vote on the legislation. Metcalfe reintroduced the bill with 27 cosponsors on May 7, 2013, the lowest number of cosponsors the bill had had when introduced. The measure was unsuccessful and died at the end of the legislative session.
Federal lawsuits Whitewood v. Wolf
On July 9, 2013, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Windsor, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on behalf of 23 plaintiffs—10 couples, 2 of their children, and a widow—seeking to overturn Pennsylvania's 1996 statutory ban on same-sex marriage. Attorney General Kathleen Kane, a named defendant, said that she would not defend the statute, but Governor Tom Corbett announced he would. On May 20, 2014, Judge John E. Jones III ruled that Pennsylvania's same-sex marriage ban violated the Constitution of the United States. The ruling was not stayed, and same-sex couples in Pennsylvania began receiving marriage licenses immediately and marrying after a mandatory 3-day waiting period. Anticipating legal maneuvers to stay Jones' ruling, dozens of same-sex couples applied for marriage licenses the same day and some obtained waivers of the state's three-day waiting period. The first couple to marry, Jess Garrity and Pamela VanHaitsma, did so on May 21 in Pittsburgh. Governor Corbett announced on May 21 that he would not appeal Judge Jones' decision, effectively making Pennsylvania the eighteenth U.S. state to recognize same-sex marriage. In a quoted passage from the Whitewood ruling, Jones wrote:
The Schuylkill County Clerk of Orphans' Court, Theresa Santai-Gaffney, responsible for responding to marriage license applications, repeatedly sought to intervene to defend the statute without success. She was rebuffed by Judge Jones, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and again by the Third Circuit. The president of the Pennsylvania Family Institute decried the court ruling, "What Judge Jones has done is extralegal, going beyond what the law or the constitution requires and the fact that he is allowing, or apparently allowing, same-sex marriage licenses to be distributed immediately undermines the Democratic process." The ACLU issued the following statement, "Another wonderful day for liberty and justice for all in Pennsylvania." Attorney General Kane said, "Our commonwealth progressed today and so have the hopes and dreams of many who suffer from inequality. Today, in Pennsylvania, the constitution prevailed." Senator Bob Casey Jr. also welcomed the court decision, "This was the right decision and is a step forward for equality in our commonwealth and in the nation."
Palladino v. Corbett On September 26, 2013, a same-sex couple lawfully married in Massachusetts filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, seeking to require that Pennsylvania recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages. The couple also sought a declaration that the statute outlawing in-state same-sex marriage be declared unconstitutional. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Mary A. McLaughlin. The defendants, Governor Corbett and Attorney General Kane, filed motions to dismiss that November and December, respectively, with the plaintiffs responding in January 2014. The case was styled Palladino v. Corbett after first-named defendant Governor Corbett. On January 17, 2014, a group called the Philadelphia Metro Task Force, opposed to same-sex marriage recognition in Pennsylvania, sought to intervene in the lawsuit. This group alleged that, in allowing same-sex marriage, "reverse discrimination is threatened amidst a continual omission of religious and moral freedom." Judge McLaughlin denied the group's motion to intervene on March 4, 2014, because they "do not identify a sufficient interest they might have at stake in this litigation, nor do they demonstrate why their interests are not adequately represented by an existing party." She also denied the group amicus curiae status, meaning they could not file a brief as a non-party to the case.
Oral arguments for summary judgment in the case were held on May 15. The case was rendered moot on May 21 when Governor Corbett decided not to appeal the decision in Whitewood v. Wolf, and as a result, same-sex marriage commenced throughout Pennsylvania. On both May 22 and 28, Judge Mary McLaughlin ordered the plaintiff couples to show cause why their case should not be dismissed because of mootness. Judge McLaughlin issued an order on September 8 suspending further proceedings until "expiration of the deadline to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari in Whitewood." After the Whitewood decision allowed the Palladino plaintiffs to lawfully marry in Pennsylvania, and the state defendants stipulated "that they will take no steps to deprive Plaintiffs of the benefits accorded by the validity and recognition of their marriage under Pennsylvania law", Judge McLaughlin ordered the case voluntarily dismissed as moot on October 22, 2014.
State lawsuits DeSanto v. Barnsley In 1981, John DeSanto sued his former partner William Barnsley, claiming in DeSanto v. Barnsley that since Pennsylvania recognized common-law marriages, their long-term relationship should be recognized as such. In May 1984, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruled against him and dismissed the case, stating that the issue of recognition of same-sex unions was a matter for the General Assembly to address.
Commonwealth v. Hanes, Cucinotta v. Commonwealth, and Ballen v. Wolf