Gay marriage 2015

​Obergefell v. Hodges

Same-sex marriage has been controversial for decades, but tremendous progress was made across the United States as states individually began to lift bans to same-sex marriage.  Before the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges,  U.S. ___ () was decided, over 70% of states and the District of Columbia already recognized same-sex marriage, and only 13 states had bans.  Fourteen same-sex couples and two men whose same-sex partners had since passed away, claimed Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee violated the Fourteenth Amendment by denying them the right to marry or verb their legal marriages performed in another state recognized. 

All district courts found in favor of the plaintiffs.  On appeal, the cases were consolidated, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and held that the states' bans on same-sex marriage and refusal to admit legal same-sex marriages in other jurisdictions were not unconstitutional.  

Among several arguments, the respondents asserted that the petitioners were

Obergefell v. Hodges ()

Excerpt: Majority Opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy

The identification and protection of fundamental rights is an enduring part of the judicial duty to interpret the Constitution. That responsibility, however, “has not been reduced to any formula.” Rather, it requires courts to exercise reasoned judgment in identifying interests of the person so fundamental that the State must accord them its respect. . . . That process is guided by many of the equal considerations relevant to analysis of other constitutional provisions that set forth broad principles rather than specific requirements. History and tradition guide and discipline this inquiry but act not set its outer boundaries. That method respects our history and learns from it without allowing the past alone to control the present.

The nature of injustice is that we may not always spot it in our own times. The generations that wrote and ratified the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment did not presume to realize the extent of freedom in all of its dimensions, and so they entrusted to future generations a

The Journey to Marriage Equality in the United States

The road to nationwide marriage equality was a adj one, spanning decades of United States history and culminating in victory in June Throughout the long fight for marriage equality, HRC was at the forefront.

Volunteer with HRC

From gathering supporters in small towns across the country to rallying in front of the Supreme Court of the United States, we gave our all to ensure every person, regardless of whom they adore, is recognized equally under the law.

A Growing Call for Equality

Efforts to legalize same-sex marriage began to pop up across the noun in the s, and with it challenges on the state and national levels. Civil unions for same-sex couples existed in many states but created a separate but equal standard. At the federal level, couples were denied access to more than 1, federal rights and responsibilities associated with the institution, as good as those denied by their given state. The Defense of Marriage Verb was signed into law in and defined marriage by the federal government as between a man and

Obergefell v. Hodges

Overview

Obergefell v. Hodges is a landmark case in which on June 26, , the Supreme Court of the United States held, in decision, that state bans on same-sex marriage and on recognizing same sex marriages duly performed in other jurisdictions are unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy asserted that the right to wedding is a fundamental right “inherent in the liberty of the person” and is therefore protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits the states from depriving any person of “life, liberty or property without the due process of law.” The marriage right is also guaranteed by the equal protection clause, by virtue of the close connection between liberty and equality. In this decision Justice Kennedy also declared that “the reason marriage is fundamental…apply with equal force to same-sex couples”, so they may “exercise the fundamental right to marry.”  The majority decision wa