On June 26, 2015, the United States became the twenty-first and most populous country to legalize same-sex marriage as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.The court ruled that the denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples violates the Due Process and the Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Lawrence v. Texas (2003) - In 2013, the Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas struck down Texas’ sodomy law - and in turn invalidated sodomy laws in 13 other states - making private, consensual, adult sexual activity between same-sex couples legal across the U.S.
United States v. Windsor (2013) - After more than 40 years together, Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer were legally married in Toronto, Canada in 2007. Their marriage was officially recognized in New York in 2008 when their home state ordered state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. When Thea died in 2009, she left her entire estate to Edie. However, Edie was barred from claiming the federal estate tax exemptions for surviving spouses under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law that prohibited the federal government from recognizing the marriages of same-sex couples, and as a result was faced with a $363,000 estate tax bill.
Hollingsworth v. Perry (2013) - In 2009, two same-sex couples, Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, filed suit against the state of California in federal court, arguing that California’s Proposition 8 violated the U.S. Constitution by denying them a fundamental right and depriving them of equal protection under the law. Prop 8, a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman, had passed at the ballot the previous November, stripping same-sex couples of the right to marry in California.
Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) - Dozens of courageous couples took their fight for marriage equality to court, including Jim Obergefell, the named plaintiff in the 2015 Supreme Court case that brought nationwide marriage equality.
McBride, Brian. “Four Cases That Paved The Way for Marriage Equality.” Human Rights Campaign, 26 June 2017, www.hrc.org/blog/four-cases-that-paved-the-way-for-marriage-equality-and-a-reminder-of-the-w.
