What currently prevents same sex marriage?

[shiftless]

Lots a debate here in the SDMB on whether it should be allowed , so I'd like to keep this factual if we can. I'm married and straight so I have no experience here and don't know anyone who has tried to get married and been prevented from doing so. I know marriage laws are different in different states.

So let's say two people of the same sex decide to marry. What obstacle currently stands in their way? Considering that a lot of states made sudden moves to pass laws preventing such a marriage, I have to wonder if some people (those who didn't want such marriages) felt there is currently little or no obstacle.

When my same sex couple go to get a license, does the nice lady behind the counter tell them "no way" or can they actually get a license? Is there some wording on the application that says "man" and "woman"? It has been a long time since I was married and we just sailed though the whole thing down at the courthouse so quickly that I don't remember what we had to do. I'm sure there wasn't anyone there checking that tab A inserted properly into slot B.

So if my imaginary couple decide to take the plunge, where are they stopped?

[Bricker]

It depends.

Most of the time, I suspect the clerk responsible for issuing a license refuses to do so. This hypothetical clerk may be acting in accord with a very specific law, with a very specific regulation made in accordance with a more general law, or possibly on general knowledge that "marriage" was not intended to refer to something that could be done by same-sex couples.

[StusBlues]

In Omaha every year on Valentine's day, several same-sex couples apply at City Hall for their marriage licenses. They are denied.

[Hampshire]

I'd guess it would be in the data entry/processing of the marriage license where they take information off of the couples birth certificates. Marriage license probably has a spot for entering the male partners info and a spot for the females info.
They'd be falsifying the document if they tried to enter info from Fred's birth certificate showing him as a male into the female partner portion of the license.

[Sunspace]

In Ontario, the marriage application was changed to read "Applicant" and "Joint Applicant" instead of "husband" and "wife". The word "spouse" is also used.

[alphaboi867]

Last year a gay couple in Virginia was able to obtain a marriage licence when one of them showed up in drag. I don't remember if they actually got someone to marry them before they got caught, but it wouldn't make any difference. The marriage would have been void ab initio (invalid from the outset).

[PatriotGrrrl]

They'd be falsifying the document if they tried to enter info from Fred's birth certificate showing him as a male into the female partner portion of the license.

And even if they did, and issued a marriage license, and the happy couple had a ceremony and all, no one else would have to recognize their marriage. Even after years of wedded bliss, they might be applying for some kind of benefit, or trying to solve some legal problem or whatever and some bureaucrat then could say. "I don't care what that piece of paper says, you aren't married because two men can't be married to each other".