During the Navajo Nation Pride opening ceremony on June 23, Council Delegate Seth Damon signed and sponsored a bill to recognize same-sex marriages within the reservation.

Damon, who represents Bááháálí, N.M. introduced the bill, also known as Legislation 0139-23, to repeal the Diné Marriage Act. Enacted in June 2005, the Diné Marriage Act prohibits plural marriage, prohibits marriage between family members and defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. The enactment amended the Navajo Nation Code’s Title 9, which breaks down the policies of Domestic Relations.

Legislation 0139-23 specifically seeks to repeal a portion of the code wherein the language states that all same-sex marriages are “void and prohibited.” In addition, the bill will substitute gendered language in Title 9 with gender-neutral language.

Despite The Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, the decision did not impact the Diné Marriage Act because Indigenous tribal governments are not considered states nor subdivisions of states under federal law, therefore making the ruling unapplicable.

Efforts to repeal the Diné Marriage Act last year were not successful. At the time, Arizona Mirror journalist Shondiin Silversmith, who had been following this fight from the Navajo Nation told KNAU that “[marriage equality] is really different when it comes to an Indigenous community, because indigenous communities have different cultures, traditions and ways of life.”

According to a 2021 article published by Blue Ridge Public Radio of NPR, around 40 federally recognized Native American tribes recognize same-sex marriage.

“We feel it’s in the best interest of the Navajo Nation to repeal Title 9 so that everyone can enjoy the full benefits of legal recognition of their marriages within the Navajo Nation, whether our relatives are heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, non-gender specific, two-spirit, or Nádleehí,” Damon said in the official press release on June 23.

The bill also argues that upholding heteronormative policies around marriage is equivalent to upholding European colonizer standards.

“The Navajo Nation further recognizes that Navajo society accepted multi-gendered individuals prior to European arrival,” the bill notes. “European religious influence viewed homosexuality as an intolerable sin. As a result, acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer, two-spirit (LGBTQ+) people declined within tribal nations. Today, many tribal nations have repealed same-sex prohibition laws.”

The bill underwent a five-day comment period, which ended on June 28 and was heard by the tribal council committee the next day. At the moment, it is still in various committees before it will be introduced to the full Council. As for the next steps, the bill requires 13 of 24 delegates voting in support before the President can sign it into law.

“We see ourselves as sacred human beings,” Alray Nelson, Diné PRIDE co-founder and executive director, told Source NM. “And with that knowledge, we teach every LGBTQ young person not only is the Navajo Nation on the right side of history, but its leaders also support our community.”