Which two states still have unchallenged bans on same-sex marriage?

If you’d counted last week, there were still four states left in the U.S. that had bans on same-sex marriage on the books not facing any court challenge. Then, on Monday, May 12, five Alaskan couples filed suit against their state’s marriage restrictions. And a lesbian couple in South Dakota, recently married in Minneapolis, has announced their intention to file suit against their state ban. That leaves just two states where a law prohibiting same-sex unions still exists unchallenged.

There are currently 33 states in the U.S. where same-sex marriage would still be considered illegal. Judges in several of those states have now allowed gay couples to wed while challenges to state bans continue in court. Basic math would tell you that there are now 17 states where same-sex couples can obtain marriage licenses.

The math baffler would be that 32 state courts are currently hearing challenges to their marriage laws. That number is reconciled when you take into account that suits are still moving through the courts in Hawaii and Illinois, two states that now issue same-sex licenses.

So, time’s up. Which two states still have unchallenged same-sex marriage laws in effect?

Adjacent and pressed up against the 49^th parallel, those states would be North Dakota and Montana.

What else do those states have in common? They both became states (along with Washington) in 1889.  They share a paddlefish migration route, as well as the Bakken shale formation, which just last month “celebrated” extraction of its billionth barrel of crude. All of which means … uh, hmm, um….

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