Section 1

Each of the several States must give Full Faith and Credit to the legal judgments, laws, regulations, records, and official acts of the other States. No State is required to enact identical laws or policies. Travelers and interstate immigrants are nonetheless entitled to the recognition and protection of any legal status or right previously held under the laws of the original State. This Right is foundational to the formation of the United States as a single nation under a federal system. It cannot be abridged by courts, legislatures, executives, or constabularies of any kind or for any reason.

To be clear, for example, a resident of the fictional state of Oak receives a marriage license in Oak and is married, with that marriage being recorded in Oak. That person then moves to the fictional state of Rowan. In Rowan, marriage is only permitted between right-handed people, but the former resident of Oak is left-handed. Rowan is not obligated to extend marriage to left-handed residents in Rowan, but must recognize, conferring all the usual rights and privileges to the former resident of Oak, since their marriage was lawfully conducted, licensed, and recorded under the laws of Oak. Mere regulatory inconvenience is insufficient to deny Full Faith and Credit.