Which U.S. Supreme Court case ruled that state bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional?

Which U.S. Supreme Court case ruled that state bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional? Obergefell v. Hodges.

Decided on June 26, 2015, Obergefell held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to license marriages between two people of the same sex and recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the 5–4 majority opinion, emphasizing marriage’s central importance to individual autonomy, family life, and equal dignity.

The case grew from James Obergefell’s challenge after Ohio refused to recognize his Maryland marriage to John Arthur, who was terminally ill. The Court consolidated Obergefell with cases from Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee involving marriage licensing and recognition.

A common mix-up is United States v. Windsor, decided in 2013. Windsor struck down Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, but it did not itself require every state to license or recognize same-sex marriages. Obergefell supplied that nationwide constitutional rule. The decision built on earlier cases including Lawrence v. Texas, which invalidated laws criminalizing private same-sex intimacy, but it addressed marriage directly.