Changes

In the 20th century, we began to see more challenges to the heterosexual, intraracial ideal of marriage. This post does not address interracial marriage, and encourages the reader to see our other [[When did interracial marriage become legal in the United States?|DailyHistory post]] on the subject. In the context of the decision in ''"Loving v. Virginia'' " (1967) and the Civil Rights Movements, same-sex couples began to push for the legal recognition of their relationships. However, this was met with pushback from Republican and Democratic factions. In fact, it It was Democratic President William Clinton who passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996.

The Act itself is very shortconcise--comprising three sections in total--but it provided a stunning rebuke to same -sex couples. While the Act gave individual states the rights right to recognize same -sex marriage, it also gave the states rights right to deny recognition of same -sex marriages. Furthermore, it affirmed the federal government's stance that "marriage" only referred to the legal union of men and women. Therefore, the federal government would not recognize marriages between same -sex couples--even if they were legally married in their state. While some states used this as an opportunity to recognize same-sex partnerships, these couples lacked the basic protections of legal marriage. These legal differences and protections became visible in the case ''"United States v. Windsor'' " (2013).

Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer had been a couple for decades. When Canada legalized same-sex marriage, they married in Ontario in 2007. Eventually, their home state of New York recognized that marriage as legally valid. When Thea died, she left her entire estate to Edith; however, since the federal government didn't recognize their marriage under DOMA, the IRS charged Edith over $360,000 on the estate she inherited. If their marriage the federal government had been legally recognized by the federal governmenttheir marriage, she would not have not been fined as the surviving spouse. Windsor and her attorneys argued that DOMA was unconstitutional, and the US Supreme Court agreed, striking DOMA down for violating the 14th Amendment.

It was not until 2015 that same -sex marriage was fully decided in ''"Obergefell v. Hodges''". When this case was before the US Supreme Court, the primary issues at hand were discussing whether the 14th Amendment required a state to license marriages of same-sex couples, and whether a state had to recognize the legal marriage of a same-sex couple that had been licensed and performed in another state. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled yes and yes. In his closing remarks, Justice Kennedy wrote: <blockquote>"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming Informing a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."<blockquote/>

While opposition remains, it was with this case the fundamental right to marry was guaranteed to same-sex couples in the United States.