Same-sex Couples Have the Right to Marry

On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled, inthe case of Obergefell v. Hodges,that same-sex couples have the fundamental right under the Unites States Constitution to marry In that case, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee could deny same-sex couples the right to marry or to have their legal out-of-state marriages recognized. The District Courts in each of those states had previously ruled in favor of plaintiffs who challenged the prohibitions in those states, but after consolidating the cases, the Sixth Circuit reversed the District Courts decision. The Supreme Court granted certiorari and now, a 5-4 majority has reversed the Sixth Circuit Court. The majority based their decision on the due process and equal protection provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment, finding that the right to marry is a fundamental right that is fully protected by the Constitution and is as applicable to same-sex couples as it is to heterosexual couples, and the right to have their marriages recognized by other states is similarly protected.