On November 13^th 2013, Hawaii became the 15^th state to legalize same-sex marriage. The law goes into effect on December 2^nd. The last state to pass same sex marriage was New Jersey in September. The 15 states and DC have a total population of 105 million people. This is a third of the total United States population. While we have come a long way since same-sex marriage was illegal throughout the country ten years ago, there is still a ways to go.

The first state to pass a law legalizing same-sex marriage was Massachusetts in 2004. There was then a gap of a few years until California in 2008. However, California’s decision was revoked in November after only a couple of months. By the end of 2009, 6 states along with DC had legalized same-sex marriage. New York joined the group of states in 201. In the past two years, eight more states have joined the previous seven with Hawaii capping the list off in November.

Though Hawaii is only the 15^th state out of 50 to legalize same-sex marriage, Americans have made great leaps toward equal rights in the past two years. Hawaii will serve as yet another example to the rest of the country. The rest of the states will see that people are fighting harder than ever for the right to same-sex marriage. State governments will be pressured until they have to give in to popular demand. It is only a matter of time.