Same-Sex Marriage
What does "Same-Sex Marriage" mean in law?
Same-sex marriage is the legal union between two persons of the same sex, guaranteed as a fundamental right under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment since the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). Prior to Obergefell, the legal landscape was defined by a patchwork of state laws and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Section 3 of which was struck down in United States v. Windsor (2013) for violating equal protection by denying federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. The right to marry has long been recognized as fundamental, as established in Loving v. Virginia (1967) and reaffirmed in Zablocki v. Redhail (1978), and Obergefell extended that principle to hold that the Constitution does not permit states to exclude same-sex couples from civil marriage. Same-sex married couples now have identical rights to different-sex married couples in all matters including property division, spousal support, adoption, and inheritance.
Definition
Same-sex marriage is the legal union between two persons of the same sex, guaranteed as a fundamental right under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment since the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). Prior to Obergefell, the legal landscape was defined by a patchwork of state laws and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Section 3 of which was struck down in United States v. Windsor (2013) for violating equal protection by denying federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. The right to marry has long been recognized as fundamental, as established in Loving v. Virginia (1967) and reaffirmed in Zablocki v. Redhail (1978), and Obergefell extended that principle to hold that the Constitution does not permit states to exclude same-sex couples from civil marriage. Same-sex married couples now have identical rights to different-sex married couples in all matters including property division, spousal support, adoption, and inheritance.
Example
After the Obergefell decision, the couple who had been domestic partners for fifteen years were able to legally marry in their home state of Ohio, entitling them to spousal rights including joint tax filing, inheritance, and the right to make medical decisions for each other.