Defense of marriage amendment is a term used to describe two different kinds of U.S. state constitutional amendments. The first prevents a state from legalizing same-sex marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships, while the second kind bans only same-sex marriage. These bans are enacted at the constitutional level, and thus can only be changed by modifying the respective state constitution. The term "defense of marriage" is generally associated with conservative activists who favor such amendments. As of November 26, 2006, 27 states had approved such amendments.