Same-sex marriage was legalized throughout the entire United States just five years ago, in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). Prior to this ruling, it was only legal in 36 states plus Washington, D.C., and Guam. With this landmark civil rights case, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples under the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment.
The case of Obergefell v. Hodges in the Supreme Court was actually a consolidation of six cases from federal district courts in four different states: Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. These cases were Bourke v. Beshear and Love v. Beshear in Kentucky, DeBoer v. Snyder in Michigan, Obergefell v. Wymyslo and Henry v. Himes in Ohio, and Tanco v. Haslam in Tennessee.
In all of these cases, U.S. district judges ruled against state same-sex marriage bans and for the same-sex couples and related parties, if any. Some of these cases were decided based on the precedent of United States v. Windsor, which required the federal government to recognize same-sex marriage. All of these cases were decided from late 2013 to early 2014.
Starting in January 2014 and continuing until July, state authorities in those states appealed the cases to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. This court merged the cases of Obergefell and Henry into one case, Obergefell v. Hodges, merged the cases of Bourke v. Beshear and Love v. Beshear into Bourke, while it heard DeBoer and Tanco separately. However, in all of these cases, the court of appeals reversed the decisions of all the lower courts, citing the Supreme Court case of Baker v. Nelson (1973), in which the court dismissed a same-sex couple’s case for the lack of a federal question, declaring the states’ bans on same-sex marriage to be constitutional.
All the same-sex couples in the four cases, Obergefell, DeBoer, Bourke, and Tanco, appealed their cases to the U.S. Supreme Court. In January 2015, the Supreme Court consolidated all the cases into one single case, Obergefell v. Hodges, and agreed to hear the case.
The two questions considered were whether or not the 14th Amendment required a state to license a marriage between a couple of the same-sex, and whether or not the 14th Amendment also requires a state to recognize a same-sex marriage that is lawfully performed out-of-state. Oral arguments before the court on April 28, 2015. Aside from the same-sex couples’ own lawyer, the U.S. Solicitor General also represented the U.S. government in arguing in favor of the couples.
There was considerable attention from the American public in this case, as its outcome would determine the fate of civil rights for millions of LGBTQ Americans. In fact, this case saw 148 amici curiae briefs submitted. These briefs are filed by groups, individuals, and governments with an interest in the case, and can help advise the justices in making a decision.
The court released its opinions on June 26, 2015, deciding, in a 5-4 decision, that the 14th Amendment requires all states to permit and recognize same-sex marriages, overruling its previous decision in Baker v. Nelson and the decision of the 6th Circuit. All four liberal justices, along with moderate justice Anthony Kennedy, were in the majority, while the remaining conservative justices descented.
The majority opinion held that same-sex marriage bans violate the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment. Kennedy, who authored the opinion, wrote:
No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, majority opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015.
In other words, the court agreed that no matter the sexes of the parties involved in a marriage, they should still be able to be married since “marriage is a keystone of our social order” and that since same-sex couples can have children and families, the fundamental right which “safeguards children and families and thus draws meaning from related rights of childrearing, procreation, and education” should also apply to same-sex couples, a precedent set in Loving v. Virginia. In addition, based on the precedent set by United States v. Windsor, which required the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages, the court also upheld that the right to personal choice with respect to marriage is “in the concept of individual autonomy.”
Also, the court also stated that same-sex marriage and couples “would pose no risk or harm to themselves or third parties,” and so rejected the notion that same-sex marriage would harm the institution of marriage and would lead to fewer opposite-sex marriages.
Though the other four justices voted against this case, it should be noted that none of them were actually against the legalization of same-sex marriage. Rather, they believed that it was not the job of the Supreme Court to decide this case, and it should be left to Congress or to individual states instead to make a decision on the issue.
Today, because of Obergefell, same-sex marriage has been legalized in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and all outlying territories of the U.S. Public opinion regarding same-sex marriage is overwhelmingly popular among Americans, too. In a poll conducted by Gallup in June 2020, 67 percent of Americans believed same-sex marriage should be legal, and the support is only continuing to rise. 60 percent of Americans would not mind if their children married someone of the same gender. There is only one state—Mississippi—with a plurality opposing same-sex marriage and one state—Alabama—where a majority oppose same-sex marriage as of 2017.
If you enjoyed this Supreme Court case post, check out other landmark and recent Supreme Court cases that Newshacker Blog has covered!
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