07/16/2025
Four days and ten years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage for everyone...
The Obergerfell v. Hodges decision followed years of debate across the nation, during which some states protected domestic and civil same-sex unions while others strictly defined marriage to be between a man and a woman. On June 26th, 2015, prominent civil rights activist Jim Obergefell won marriage equality for all Americans. For him, this battle has been ongoing since years prior when he sued the State of Ohio for their 2004 law that mirrored the Federal Defense of Marriage Act, banning same-sex unions across the state. In 2011, his husband was diagnosed with ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Arthur's condition declined rapidly, causing Jim to become his full-time caretaker. It was not until 2013 that the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. The couple then needed to act quickly to get married.
Despite the removal of the federal marriage ban, it was still prohibited for same-sex partnerships to get married in the State of Ohio. Therefore, Jim and Arthur decided to get married in Maryland and did so upon arriving on the tarmac due to his husband's recent poor health. However, when the pair landed at home and learned that their union would not appear on state legal documents, such as Arthur's death certificate, Jim Obergerfell launched his journey as a plaintiff by suing the state. The lawsuit slowly made its way to the Supreme Court, where litigation consolidated cases from several Republican-led states like Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee who had their marriage licenses or out-of-state marriage recognition denied.
Obergefell v. Hodges argued that the Constitution guarantees marriage under the due process and equal protection clauses found in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. Finally in the summer of 2015, in a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court decided that the right to marriage is fundamental and therefore protected by the United States Constitution, overturning state bans on same-sex marriage nationwide.
