Senate Joint Resolution No. 13

Proposes to amend the Nevada Constitution to repeal the limitation on the recognition of marriage.

Purpose of Measure

Senate Joint Resolution No. 13 proposes an amendment to the Nevada Constitution to repeal the limitation on the recognition of marriage as provided in Article 1, Section 21, which was added in 2002, as a result of a petition.

Remarks to Offer in Support of S.J.R. 13

The History of Marriage

Both the Church and the State have played key roles at different times in the history of the institution of marriage.

1. Roots  Several different ancient cultures, including Roman, Hebrew, and Germanic  Medieval Christian Church doctrine  Protestant Reformation  Industrial Revolution

2. Social institution  In Greece, marriage was seen as fundamental to society.

 In Rome, at one point laws were passed that compelled people to marry; those who did not were penalized.  In Israel, every healthy person was expected to marry and men could have several wives and concubines.  In the ancient world, typically fathers picked wives for their sons and entered into contracts with the family of the bride.

3. Medieval Europe  Marriage was a strategic alliance to establish peace, trading relationships, and other mutual obligations.  In northern Europe, marriage was little more than a business deal between the bride’s father and future husband.

4. Consent  In the 12th Century, the Church began to refer to marriage as a sacrament and a priest became part of the wedding ceremony.  By the 13th Century, the priest took charge of the proceedings.  By this time, the Church took the position that marriage could only be built on the free consent of both partners.  However, even young children could be married, if they were convinced by their families to consent.  In 1563, the Council of Trent defined marriage as a sacrament to counter the teachings of Martin Luther.

5. Protestants  Martin Luther taught that marriage was a worldly thing that belongs to the realm of government.  In the 17th Century, English Puritans passed an Act of Parliament to make marriage purely a secular act, no longer to be performed by a priest. Instead, a justice of the peace could perform the ceremony.

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O-2  The Puritans brought that concept to America.

6. Common law marriage  Similar to ancient Rome, mutual consent without formal ceremony was all that was needed.  This form of marriage was permitted in England until 1753 when the Church of England was put in charge of all marriages, including those of Catholics and Jews. The posting of the banns had the effect of a marriage license. This was the first statutory regulation of marriage in England.

7. Civil marriages  In most of Europe, marriages continued to require religious ceremonies, until the French Revolution introduced civil marriages in 1792.  Germany followed in the 19th Century when Bismarck diminished the role of the Catholic Church.  England also enacted the Marriage Act of 1836 that allowed for non-religious civil marriages.  Eventually, marriage before a magistrate became the only valid form of marriage, although religious marriages were still permitted, but only after the civil ceremony had taken place.

8. Unconventional marriages in the United States in the 18th Century  Mormon polygamy—polygamy where one man could have multiple wives.  Oneida Community—group marriage where every woman was married to every man.  Both eventually outlawed by the government.

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O-3 Sources: History of Marriage in Western Civilization, http://www2.hu-berlin. de/sexology/ATLAS_EN/html/history_of_marriage_in_western.html, accessed March 25, 2013.

Lauren Everitt, “Ten Key Moments in the History of Marriage,” BBC New Magazine, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magainzine-17351133?print=true, accessed March 25, 2013.

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