The U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Marriage Equality

The complete text of the landmark Supreme Court decision on marriage equality
 
The 2015 Supreme Court decision Obergefell et al. v. Hodges legalized gay marriage across the United States. This edition collects the widely quoted decision by Justice Kennedy, as well as the dissents of Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito. Of tremendous interest to general readers and students of American history, The U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Marriage Equality is a milestone in the history of human and civil rights. It is an essential document of our times.“To the list of landmark Supreme Court decisions reaffirming the power and the scope of the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law . . . we can now add Obergefell v. Hodges.”
—The New York Times
 
“[This ruling is] a victory for gay and lesbian couples who have fought so long for their basic civil rights. It’s a victory for their children, whose families will now be recognized as equal to any other. It’s a victory for the allies and friends and supporters who spent years, even decades, working and praying for change to come. And this ruling is a victory for America. This decision affirms what millions of Americans already believe in their hearts: When all Americans are treated as equal we are all more free.”
—President Barack Obama
 
“A landmark victory for gay rights.”
—The Washington Post
 
“The Supreme Court’s historic ruling . . . granting gays and lesbians an equal right to marry nationwide puts an exclamation point on a profound shift in law and public attitudes, and creates the most significant and controversial new constitutional liberty in more than a generation.”
—Los Angeles Times
 
“The most important civil rights case in a generation.”
—The GuardianEstablished in 1789, The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest federal court of the United States. The Court consists of the Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts, and eight associate justices: Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotormayor, and Elena Kagan.