Which case legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in the U.S.?

Obergefell v. Hodges legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in the United States.

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court held in a 5–4 decision that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to license marriages between two people of the same sex and to recognize same-sex marriages performed lawfully elsewhere. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion.

The case combined challenges from Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The plaintiffs included same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses or recognition of their marriages, as well as a widower who wanted his late husband’s name recorded on a death certificate. The ruling made marriage equality a nationwide constitutional right.

Obergefell built on earlier decisions. Loving v. Virginia struck down bans on interracial marriage, Lawrence v. Texas invalidated laws criminalizing private consensual same-sex intimacy, and United States v. Windsor struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Those cases were important precedents, but Obergefell was the decision that required nationwide marriage licensing and recognition.