Obergefell v. Hodges (2015): The Same-Sex Marriage Decision

Case at a Glance

What Is Obergefell v. Hodges?

Obergefell v. Hodges is the 2015 Supreme Court decision that made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states. In a 5-4 ruling delivered on June 26, 2015, the Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires every state to license a marriage between 2 people of the same sex and to recognize such a marriage when lawfully performed in another state. The decision was the culmination of a 20-year legal and political campaign and came exactly 2 years after United States v. Windsor, in which Justice Kennedy had struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act's definition of marriage as opposite-sex only.

Who Was James Obergefell and Why Did He Sue?

James Obergefell grew up in Ohio and met John Arthur, his partner of more than 20 years, in 1992. In 2013, John Arthur was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease. As Arthur's condition deteriorated, the couple decided to marry. Ohio banned same-sex marriage, so in July 2013 they flew to Maryland — where same-sex marriage was legal — and were married on a medical transport plane on the tarmac at Baltimore-Washington International Airport because Arthur was too ill to leave a stretcher.

3 months later, John Arthur died. Ohio refused to list James Obergefell as Arthur's surviving spouse on the death certificate. To Obergefell, this meant the state would officially erase 20 years of partnership and a legally performed marriage. He filed suit in the Southern District of Ohio to require the state to recognize his marriage.

His case was consolidated with 3 others from Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee, each involving same-sex couples who had married in states where it was legal but lived in states that refused to license or recognize such marriages. The Sixth Circuit court of appeals ruled against all 4 couples in November 2014, finding the state bans constitutional. This created a conflict with rulings from the Fourth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits, which had struck down similar bans, prompting the Supreme Court to grant certiorari.

Justice Kennedy's Opinion: 4 Pillars of Marriage

Justice Kennedy, who had authored every major prior Supreme Court gay rights decision, wrote the majority opinion. He identified 4 principles from the Court's prior cases that he said established why the right to marry must extend to same-sex couples.

First Pillar: Individual Autonomy

The right to choose one's spouse and to define one's personal identity through that choice is among the most intimate and fundamental a person can make. The Constitution has long protected personal decisions relating to contraception, family relationships, and procreation. Marriage, as a core component of personal definition, falls within this protected autonomy.

Second Pillar: Two-Person Union

Marriage is distinctive as a form of intimate relationship — it creates a unique 2-person union that gives individuals strength and meaning. Same-sex couples share the same capacity for love and partnership as opposite-sex couples. Excluding them from marriage demeans their relationships by refusing them the legal recognition that gives marriage its social and legal weight.

Third Pillar: Children and Families

Marriage safeguards children and families. Many same-sex couples raise children. Children in those families suffer stigma and legal disadvantage when their parents cannot marry. Excluding same-sex couples from marriage harms the children they raise by creating families that are legally less secure and socially less recognized than those of married opposite-sex couples.

Fourth Pillar: Marriage as Social Keystone

Marriage is a keystone of American social order, providing stability, security, and recognition that flow through every aspect of civil life. Denying same-sex couples access to marriage denies them benefits — tax, inheritance, property, medical decision-making authority, immigration, and dozens of others — that marriage provides. These are not peripheral benefits but the core of why marriage matters to its participants.

The Constitutional Holding

Drawing these principles together, Kennedy held that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, couples of the same sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty. The equal protection holding reinforced the due process analysis: depriving same-sex couples of marriage while extending it to opposite-sex couples constituted irrational discrimination based on the sex of one's partner, which could not survive even rational basis review under equal protection.

The 4 Dissents

Every conservative justice wrote a separate dissent.

Chief Justice Roberts argued the majority had hijacked a democratic debate and that nothing in the Constitution supported the Court imposing a new definition of marriage. He denied the case had anything to do with same-sex couples' dignity, writing that the Constitution neither defines marriage nor prohibits states from doing so.

Justice Scalia called the ruling a threat to American democracy and wrote with characteristic acidity that to allow the Court — a committee of nine unelected lawyers — to resolve the constitutional question whether states may define marriage as between a man and a woman, without reference to the democratic process, was hubris.

Justice Thomas disagreed with the substantive due process framework, arguing that liberty under the Constitution protects freedom from physical restraint, not access to government benefits such as marriage licenses.

Justice Alito argued that same-sex marriage was not deeply rooted in American history and tradition, and that under the standard Glucksberg framework for identifying fundamental rights, the Constitution did not protect it.

Is Gay Marriage Still Legal? The 2025 Update

Is gay marriage still legal in 2025? Yes. Obergefell v. Hodges remains good law. In November 2025, the Supreme Court declined to hear a new challenge to Obergefell, leaving the ruling intact.

There have been persistent concerns that the current Supreme Court might revisit Obergefell, particularly after Justice Thomas, in his concurrence in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022), suggested the Court should reconsider Obergefell and other substantive due process precedents. The Dobbs majority expressly disclaimed any intention to disturb Obergefell. Congress responded by passing the Respect for Marriage Act in December 2022, which requires states and the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages performed when and where they were legal, providing a statutory backstop even if Obergefell were ever overruled. As of July 2026, same-sex marriage remains constitutionally and statutorily protected.

When Was Same-Sex Marriage Legalized in the US?

When was same-sex marriage legalized in the US? June 26, 2015, when the Supreme Court issued its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Before Obergefell, 36 states and Washington D.C. already recognized same-sex marriage. The ruling made it the law in all 50 states simultaneously.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Obergefell v. Hodges do?

It held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires all states to license and recognize same-sex marriages, making same-sex marriage immediately legal nationwide. No state could deny a marriage license to a same-sex couple or refuse to recognize a same-sex marriage performed in another state.

Who were the petitioners in Obergefell?

14 same-sex couples and 2 men whose same-sex partners had died, from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. James Obergefell was the lead plaintiff. He sought to have Ohio recognize his Maryland marriage to the late John Arthur on Arthur's Ohio death certificate.

What is same-sex marriage supreme court 2025?

As of 2025, the Supreme Court has not overturned Obergefell. In November 2025, the Court declined to hear a case challenging same-sex marriage. The Respect for Marriage Act (2022) provides an additional statutory protection for same-sex marriage that remains in force.

Timeline

Obergefell v. Hodges spoke the language of equality, dignity, and fundamental rights in a context millions of Americans felt personally, and its closing words — that no union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family — gave constitutional law a rare moment of genuine human resonance.