In the landmark 2015 case Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all state bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional, making gay marriage legal throughout America. The ruling was a culmination of decades of struggles, setbacks and victories along the road to full marriage equality in the United States.

The case involved several groups of same-sex couples who sued their respective states (Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee) for the states’ bans on same-sex marriage and refusal to recognize such marriages performed elsewhere.

The plaintiffs—led by Jim Obergefell, who sued because he was unable to put his name on his late husband’s death certificate—argued that the laws violated the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

In each case, trial courts sided with the plaintiffs, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit disagreed, bringing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

As with United States v. Windsor, conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy sided with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan in favor of same-sex marriage rights, ultimately making gay marriage legal across the nation in June 2015.

A Pew Research Center poll in 2001 found that 57 percent of Americans opposed same-sex marriage and only 35 percent supported it. In 2022, a Pew poll found 61 percent of Americans said that the legalization of same-sex marriage is good for society.

These excerpts are cited from a History.com article on gay marriage. Read more about the history of same-sex marriage pre-dating Obergefell v. Hodges here.

Marriage equality's 10-year anniversary was just last year. Check out this NYT article where people across the country share what the ruling has meant to them.