Vermont was the first state in the United States to sign a bill verifying that same-sex couples were equal to heterosexual couples. In the same year, Germany signed a bill recognizing unions for same-sex couples. However, in 2004, progress began for same-sex relationships in the United States. California, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York began to recognize same-sex unions in some form. Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriage. Shortly after Massachusetts, Connecticut signed a bill on same-sex civil unions. California also officially legalized same-sex marriage in 2008. During the year 2009, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Vermont also legalized same-sex marriage. On October 22, 2013, Jason Pickel and Darren Black Bear became the first same-sex gay couple to marry in Oklahoma, but the marriage was performed through a tribe and not through the state. Jason and Darren are both members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. They had been partners for eight and a half years and thought about going out of state to get married, but a tribal official said the tribe would allow it. Rosemary Stephens, editor-in-chief of the Tribal Tribune, a newspaper owned by the tribe, said: "The tribe's laws do not address gender in marriage.