Navajo Nation group seeks marriage equality on reservation

Friday, January 3, 2014  

A group on the Navajo Nation is seeking to bring marriage equality to the reservation.

The Coalition for Navajo Equality wants to repeal the Dine Marriage Act of 2005, which outlaws same-sex marriage. Supporters of the effort include President Ben Shelly and his predecessor, Joe Shirley.

"It goes against our tribe's fundamental teaching of harmony in family," Alray Nelson, who is part of the coalition, told The Los Angeles Times. "It's hard to understand why we implemented something like this because it goes against everything we are founded upon."

Same-sex marriage is recognized in New Mexico, where part of the reservation is located. And tribes in other states are making national and international headlines for embracing marriage equality.

Get the Story:
Navajo Nation struggles with same-sex marriage (The Los Angeles Times 12/30)
Navajo Nation continues ban on same-sex marriage (The Farmington Daily-Times 12/20)

Interview with couple about Cheyenne-Arapaho marriage law (10/29)
Amber Bighorse: Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes make history (10/28)
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes draw attention to marriage law (10/25)
Editorial: Tribe leading way to marriage equality in Oklahoma (10/24)