Tso didn’t respond to a request for comment.īut the legislation being introduced has renewed a debate on the Navajo Nation and surrounding areas. A spokesperson guessed the bill won’t be heard until this summer or fall. After that, the legislation will be heard in four committees. Once Tso proposed the bill, the legislative process on the Nation required a five-day public comment period. Marriage on the Navajo Nation confers rights to spouses regarding health care and shared property, among other things. So upholding that ban has little effect on same-sex couples. However, the tribe accepts as valid marriage licenses issued outside its boundaries. The Cherokee Nation, for example, which has about 140,000 members living on the Cherokee Nation but reports about 760,000 members nationwide, recently upheld its ban on same-sex marriage. Some have gone along and followed their state laws, while others have upheld their bans or didn’t weigh in on the topic. Since the United States Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that states cannot ban same-sex marriage, tribes have reacted differently. The Navajo Nation’s estimated 173,000 residents are the biggest group of tribal members in the country whose same-sex couples don’t enjoy the same rights as straight couples.
