• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman’s gay relationship ‘The Last of Us’ (Ep 3) will be 2023’s memorable TV moment
  • Many self-identified heterosexuals report feeling attracted toward individuals of the same sex, study finds
  • Taylor Lautner thought Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift’s speech was planned

Coalition For Navajo Equality Hopes To Overturn Tribal Anti-Gay Marriage Legislation

Joseph Ehrman-Dupre January 3, 2014

The Navajo Nation may soon see a review of its tribal ban on gay marriage, spurred on by the Coalition for Navajo Equality. The original legislation, which banned same-sex marriages in 2005, likely passed in part because of the climate of the federal government at the time, and limited state support for same-sex couples; now, many Navajo people would like to see that law overturned, following in the footsteps of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma. 

NavajonationAl Jazeera reports:

Alray Nelson, founder of the Coalition for Navajo Equality, says he wants the Navajo Nation (flag at right) to respect same-sex relationships, just like two of the states that surround its territory — New Mexico, where gay marriage was legalized this month, and Utah, where it was recently ruled legal but faces a mounting appeal.

“There’s no organized faction against this, like in the fight (for) Proposition 8 in California,” said Nelson, 27, whose organization is seeking to make tribal legislators review a 2005 tribal ban on gay marriage early next year.

Opposition to the review may not be organized, but it exists.

Deswood Tome, a special adviser to Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly, told Al Jazeera that although Navajo respect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Navajo, marriage is traditionally between a man and woman.

Tome referred to a traditional phrase in the Navajo language that “means that ‘a man and woman come together.’ That's our core belief as Navajo people … I’ve never heard of a man and man.”

OFFICIAL.PHOTOGRAPH.President.Shelly-250x300President Shelly (right), it turns out, both agreed and disagreed with Tome's interpretation. While the tradition has been marriage between one man and one woman, Shelly stated that his personal belief is one of equal opportunity for marriage, gay or straight. Other tribal nations agree and fear that state and federal influences (such as George W. Bush's 2004 defense of DOMA) have caused dissent within their tribes.

In October two gay men became the third same-sex couple to be officially married by the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. Their territory is surrounded by Oklahoma, where gay marriage remains illegal and faces much opposition. 

After their marriage, a high-level official called a tribal meeting to discuss measures to block such unions, said Cheyenne and Arapaho Lt. Gov. Amber Bighorse-Suitor. 

“I was surprised when this broke that there was any opposition in the tribe. The attitude in Oklahoma seems to have infiltrated some of our tribal attitudes,” she said. 

The same-sex marriage debate seems to represent just one facet of an ever-shifting dynamic between states, tribal nations, and the federal government. Influences both positive (Utah and New Mexico's marriage decisions) and negative (Oklahoma's largely anti-gay stance) have traversed national borders.  

Hopefully the Navajo Nation will review the 2005 ban and decide, like the other tribal governments, to allow same-sex marriage. Good luck to the Coalition for Navajo Equality!

Topics: News More Posts About: Gay Marriage, gay marriage, Gay Rights, gay rights, Native American, Native American, New Mexico, New Mexico, News, Utah, Utah

Related Posts
  • U.S. states challenge Biden rule on socially conscious investing
  • No deal to end gun violence, U.S. Republican lawmaker says
  • Trump ally seeks return to Congress, California votes on crime in U.S. midterm primaries
  • Many self-identified heterosexuals report feeling attracted toward individuals of the same sex, study finds

    Many self-identified heterosexuals report feeling attracted toward individuals of the same sex, study finds

    Published by PsyPost Sexuality is commonly thought to be a spectrum. If that is true, is anyone fully straight? Does that blur the label of what heterosexual means? A study published in Archives of Sexual Behavior …Read More »
  • Taylor Lautner thought Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift’s speech was planned

    Taylor Lautner thought Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift’s speech was planned

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Taylor Lautner thought it was part of a planned “skit” when Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) acceptance speech. The ‘Twilight’ actor presented the Best Female Video …Read More »
  • How to Get Tickets to Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour

    How to Get Tickets to Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour

    Published by PopCrush Wondering how to get tickets to Beyoncé‘s Renaissance World Tour? We’ve got you covered. Queen Bey will hit the road in May to bring her next iconic tour to the BeyHive. Beyoncé announced …Read More »
  • U.S. African American studies does not include material targeted by Florida governor

    U.S. African American studies does not include material targeted by Florida governor

    Published by Reuters By Brad Brooks (Reuters) – An African American studies course for U.S. high school students that was released on Wednesday does not include material that Florida’s conservative governor said pushed a liberal agenda, …Read More »
Previous Post: « Vikings Retain Attorneys to Investigate Chris Kluwe Homophobia Claims
Next Post: TV Stations Cut Away From Rose Parade Gay Marriage »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • Why cops kill: A Q&A with policing expert Dr. DeLacy Davis

    Why cops kill: A Q&A with policing expert Dr. DeLacy Davis

  • Rep. George Santos vows to stop lying : ‘I’ve learned my lesson’

    Rep. George Santos vows to stop lying : ‘I’ve learned my lesson’

  • George Santos campaign made suspicious payments to Miami Beach parking lot

    George Santos campaign made suspicious payments to Miami Beach parking lot

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • Dennis Rodman On If He’d Ever Get Back With Ex-Girlfriends: “I Tried Madonna, I Tried Carmen Electra…”

    Dennis Rodman On If He’d Ever Get Back With Ex-Girlfriends: “I Tried Madonna, I Tried Carmen Electra…”

  • James Gunn Seemingly Confirms The DCU Will Finally Have Gay Superheroes

    James Gunn Seemingly Confirms The DCU Will Finally Have Gay Superheroes

  • Vanilla Ice Admits He Rejected Madonna’s Proposal Before They Split: ‘I Thought The Guy Was Supposed To Do That’

    Vanilla Ice Admits He Rejected Madonna’s Proposal Before They Split: ‘I Thought The Guy Was Supposed To Do That’

RSS Partner Links

  • The Groundhogs Had Different Predictions This Year
  • Hulu Cancels 1 TV Show, Renews 2 More, & Announces 2 Are Ending in 2023 (So Far)
  • Harvard Is Reportedly Inviting Soho Scammer, Anna Delvey, To Speak To MBA Students
  • “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner Jinkx Monsoon on making her Broadway debut in “Chicago”
  • Serena Williams on the Oscar Slap: ‘I’ve been there… It’s not the end of the world’
  • Pippa Middleton plans to rip up the extensive grounds of her Berkshire estate
  • Every Football Player & NFL Wife Who Have Denied Jeffree Star Rumors

Most Recent

  • Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman’s gay relationship ‘The Last of Us’ (Ep 3) will be  2023’s memorable TV moment

    Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman’s gay relationship ‘The Last of Us’ (Ep 3) will be 2023’s memorable TV moment

  • Many self-identified heterosexuals report feeling attracted toward individuals of the same sex, study finds

    Many self-identified heterosexuals report feeling attracted toward individuals of the same sex, study finds

  • Taylor Lautner thought Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift’s speech was planned

    Taylor Lautner thought Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift’s speech was planned

  • How to Get Tickets to Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour

    How to Get Tickets to Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour

  • U.S. African American studies does not include material targeted by Florida governor

    U.S. African American studies does not include material targeted by Florida governor

  • ‘Sister Wives’ Alum Gwendlyn Brown Claims She Was ‘Disappointed’ TLC Tried To ‘Exploit’ Her Bisexuality

    ‘Sister Wives’ Alum Gwendlyn Brown Claims She Was ‘Disappointed’ TLC Tried To ‘Exploit’ Her Bisexuality

  • Trump outlines plan to attack trans rights if re-elected, vows to ‘protect children from left-wing gender insanity’

    Trump outlines plan to attack trans rights if re-elected, vows to ‘protect children from left-wing gender insanity’

  • Finn Wolfhard ‘really proud’ of Noah Schnapp for coming out as gay

    Finn Wolfhard ‘really proud’ of Noah Schnapp for coming out as gay

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×