Obergefell v. Hodges
Citation: 576 U.S. 644 (U.S. Supreme Court, 2015)
Facts
Fourteen same-sex couples and two widowers challenged state laws defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. The Sixth Circuit upheld the laws, creating a circuit split that led the Supreme Court to grant certiorari.
Issue
Does the Fourteenth Amendment require states to license and recognize same-sex marriages?
Holding
The Court (5–4, Kennedy, J.) held that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Rule
The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of individuals and may not be denied to same-sex couples. Laws restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples abridge core personal choices central to individual dignity and autonomy, burdening a fundamental liberty and denying equal protection.
Significance
Obergefell constitutionalized same-sex marriage nationwide, overriding state bans across the country. Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion drew on Loving v. Virginia, Lawrence v. Texas, and prior marriage cases to construct a right grounded in both due process and equal protection. The four dissents (Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito) sharply criticized the methodology and raised rule-of-law concerns about judicial overreach, making the case a touchstone for debates about constitutional interpretation. Dobbs (2022) disavowed Obergefell’s reasoning as to abortion but expressly declined to disturb Obergefell itself.