COLUMBUS, Ohio — This June marks a decade since the historic Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage throughout the United States.
The decision, issued on June 26, 2015, followed years of tumultuous debate over marriage equality. While some states advanced protections for same-sex couples through arrangements like domestic partnerships and civil unions, others imposed strict definitions of marriage as a union solely between one man and one woman.
In Ohio, where plaintiff James Obergefell resides, voters had passed an amendment in 2004 to restrict the definition of marriage, mirroring the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that withheld federal recognition for same-sex couples. This political landscape set the stage for the legal challenge that ultimately bore Obergefell’s name.
James Obergefell and John Arthur were long-time partners in Cincinnati, having shared nearly two decades together. Their lives took a dramatic turn when Arthur was diagnosed with ALS, a progressive neurological disease, in 2011. As Arthur’s health deteriorated, Obergefell became his primary caregiver.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the federal DOMA in 2013, Obergefell and Arthur rushed to marry. Unable to do so legally in Ohio due to state restrictions, they traveled to Maryland, where they tied the knot on the tarmac, given Arthur’s compromised health.
Their legal battle began when they discovered that their marriage would not be recognized on Arthur’s death certificate. They sought a court’s intervention to have their marriage acknowledged in this context, and upon winning that decision, the case was appealed by the state. This set in motion the journey to the Supreme Court.
As a Democrat, Obergefell later ran unsuccessfully for the Ohio House in 2022. Rick Hodges, the defendant in the case and a Republican, served as director of the Ohio Department of Health from 2014 to 2017, a position that included overseeing death certificates. He had also spent five years in the Ohio House prior to his appointment by then-Governor John Kasich. Over the course of the legal proceedings, Obergefell and Hodges built a friendship.
The legal arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges centered around the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment, particularly its due process and equal protection clauses. The litigation combined multiple cases from Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee, where same-sex couples had faced denial of marriage licenses or recognition of their out-of-state marriages. These cases resulted in varying opinions from federal circuit courts, highlighting the legal inconsistencies across the nation.
In a closely divided 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court affirmed that the right to marry is fundamental, describing it as “inherent in the liberty of the person,” thereby enshrining it within constitutional protections. This landmark decision effectively nullified many state-level bans on same-sex marriages and laws refusing recognition for same-sex unions performed elsewhere.
The decision’s implications extended beyond marriage to affect custody, property rights, taxation, insurance, and various other legal matters involving married same-sex couples.
In the immediate aftermath of the ruling, there was a noticeable surge in same-sex marriages as couples—both those dating and those in domestic partnerships—quickly sought to legalize their unions. According to data from the Williams Institute at UCLA, the number of married same-sex couples has more than doubled within a decade, now estimated at around 823,000.
Nevertheless, not all public sentiment leaned in favor of the ruling. One prominent opponent, Kim Davis, a county clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, gained national attention for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on religious grounds. Her actions led to her brief incarceration and sparked protests from gay marriage opponents across the country.
Davis, a Republican, later lost her 2018 reelection bid and was ordered to pay substantial attorney fees incurred during her defiance of the court ruling. Currently, she is appealing to overturn the Obergefell decision in court, continuing to embody the ongoing struggles over marriage equality.
As the 10th anniversary of the ruling approaches, Obergefell has shared concerns regarding the current state of LGBTQ+ rights in America. He fears that a fresh case could be brought before the Supreme Court, potentially leading to the reversal of the landmark decision that changed millions of lives.
This year, eight states have taken steps to introduce resolutions urging the reversal of the Obergefell ruling, while the Southern Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly to support such a move at a recent meeting in Dallas. In contrast, more than a dozen states have acted to fortify legal protections for same-sex married couples in anticipation of any challenges to Obergefell.
As of 2025, public support for same-sex marriage remains strong, with 68% of Americans polled affirming that marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized by law, a notable increase from 60% at the time of the ruling in May 2015.
The Obergefell v. Hodges ruling remains a pivotal moment in the ongoing struggle for marriage equality in the United States, reshaping the landscape of LGBTQ+ rights and sparking continuing discussions about the future of these gains.
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