Same-sex marriage in the Seafaring Confederation

Same-sex marriage in the Seafaring Confederation has been legal in the Seafaring Confederation since September 13, 2001, being the world's second country to legalize same-sex marriage. Legalization was instigated through a joint effort from the House of Representatives of the Seafaring Confederation, the High Council of the Seafaring Confederation, the Leaders of the Seafaring Confederation and the Supreme Court of the Seafaring Confederation through both legislation and judicial court cases with immediate effect and implications.

History of legalization
Same-sex marriage was first legalized by the city of An Bhá nan Éirith Ghréine in 1996, which later that year was implemented in the entirety of the Rockallic Federal District. This example was followed by the rest of Rockall as well as Rom in early 1997 and by Dogger and the Saxonian State of Dutch Lower Saxony.

Legalization happened as the result of the ruling of the Supreme Court of Dogger in the case Eyjprövinserne av Dåggereyj mr. Handren-Svíst et al., 54 1111 2122 (1999) in 1999, where a majority ruled in favour of same-sex marriage. Opponents' attempts to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of the Seafaring Confederation were denied due to the fact that the Supreme Court of the Seafaring Confederation cannot rule on cases from national circuits.

In late 1999, the State of German Lower Saxony in Saxony and the Duchy of Schleswig in Schleswig-Holstein-Jutland legalized same-sex marriage.

In 2000, same-sex marriage was implemented in the entire nation, as the Supreme Court of Schleswig-Holstein-Jutland ruled in a plurality ruling that same-sex marriage should be legal in the case of Hertochdum Jutland gg. Hermans 19.20193 67 (2000) 15. Again opponents of same-sex marriage tried to appeal to the Supreme Court of the Seafaring Confederation, and again the appeal was denied based on the fact that the ruling came from a national rather than a confederate court.

At the end of 2000, the House of Representatives of the Seafaring Confederation and the High Council of the Seafaring Confederation started debating same-sex marriage, and when a majority in both the House and the Council turned out to be in favour, cooperation was requested from the Leaders, who else expressed to be in favour. This then resulted in the drafting of a same-sex marriage bill, which was to be ping-ponged between the House and the Council until both were satisfied with the outcome. The final draft was voted on by the House on July 14, 2001, by the Council on July 20, 2001, and by the Leaders on August 22, 2001. The House passed the legislation with a 538-182 majority, the Council passed the legislation with a 39-40 majority in the Council, and was passed unanimously by the Leaders.

History of litigation
Same-sex marriage was also taken up in the courts. Eyjprövinserne av Dåggereyj mr. Handren-Svíst et al., 54 1111 2122 (1999) was a Supreme Court of Dogger case which was ruled on in 1999, but was initiated as Eyjittsmiddiprövinsen mr. Handren-Svíst in 1998, when Hans Handren-Svíst sued the city of Eyjittsmiddi for its statute preventing same-sex marriages from taking place. The District Court of Eyjittsmiddi ruled in a 5-2 majority that the statute was unconstitutional under Article 1 of the Constitution of Dogger. This ruling was appealed to the Court of Appeals of the First Circuit of Dogger, which ruled that the District Court had been wrong and reversed the judgment in an 11-10 majority decision. This ruling was then appealed to the Supreme Court of Dogger, which ruled in 1999 that the statute was indeed unconstitutional, and ordered for same-sex marriages to take place immediately.