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Marriage equality in the U.S.: from DOMA to Obergefell and beyond

How same-sex marriage became legal nationwide, what the Respect for Marriage Act added, and which questions are still being litigated.

By the Addicting Info editorsPublished October 14, 2026Reviewed October 14, 20262 min read

Same-sex couples can marry in every U.S. state. That has been true since June 26, 2015, when the Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges. Getting there took four decades of litigation and legislation, and some related questions are still open.

A timeline

  • 1972: In Baker v. Nelson, the Supreme Court dismisses a Minnesota couple’s appeal “for want of a substantial federal question.”
  • 1996: Congress passes the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), defining marriage as between a man and a woman for federal purposes and letting states refuse to recognize other states’ same-sex marriages.
  • 2003: Lawrence v. Texas strikes down laws criminalizing same-sex intimacy. Months later, Massachusetts’ highest court rules in Goodridge that the state must allow same-sex marriage, starting in 2004.
  • 2013: United States v. Windsor strikes down DOMA’s federal definition of marriage, so the federal government must recognize lawful same-sex marriages.
  • 2015: Obergefell v. Hodges holds, 5–4, that the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process and equal protection guarantees require states to license and recognize same-sex marriages.
  • 2020: Bostock v. Clayton County holds that firing someone for being gay or transgender is sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
  • 2022: Congress passes the Respect for Marriage Act with bipartisan votes. It repeals DOMA and requires the federal government and every state to recognize a marriage validly performed in another state.

What the Respect for Marriage Act does and doesn’t do

The 2022 law does not require any state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. If Obergefell were ever overturned, a state could stop issuing them, but it would still have to recognize marriages performed elsewhere, and federal benefits would continue. The law also protects religious organizations from having to provide services for marriage celebrations.

Open questions

Disputes now center on religious objections. In 303 Creative v. Elenis (2023), the Court held that Colorado could not compel a web designer to create wedding websites that conflicted with her beliefs. Cases about public officials who decline to issue licenses, adoption and foster agencies, and parental rights in schools continue to reach the courts. For the religious-liberty side of these cases, see separation of church and state.

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