Columbus, Ohio (AP)-a pioneering top court in the United States 10 years ago this month, on June 26, 2015, legalized same-sex marriage in the USA
Oberfell’s decision against Hodges followed years of national disputes about the topic in which some states requested that they protect domestic partnerships or civil unions for same -sex partners, and others explained that marriage could only exist between a man and a woman.
In the home state of plaintiffs James Obergesfell from Ohio, voters in 2004 mostly approved the law on the federal defense of the marriage, which effectively reflected the recognition of same-sex couples in the federal government. This laid the political basis for the legal challenge that bears his name.
Here is what you need to know about the lawsuit, the people involved and the immediate and long -term effects of the 2015 population:
Who are James Oberfell and Rick Hodges?
Oberfell and John Arthur, who introduced the initial legal steps, were long -time partners who lived in Cincinnati. They have been together for almost two decades when Arthur as or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis was diagnosed in 2011. Arthur became a caregiver when the incurable disease devastated his health over time.
When the Supreme Court in 2013 reflected the law on the defense of the Federal Defense of the Marriage, which had refused to recognize the federal family of same -sex marriages, the couple quickly acted to marry. Her union was not allowed in Ohio, so they got on a plane to Maryland and married to Arthur’s delicate health at the asphalt.
When they learned that their union would not be listed in Arthur’s death certificate, the legal dispute began. They went to court to have recognized their marriage in the document and their application was granted by a court. Ohio appealed and the case started the ladder up to the high court of the nation.
Oberfell, a democrat, made an unsuccessful run for the Ohio House in 2022.
Rick Hodges, a Republican, was director of the Ministry of Health in Ohio from August 2014 to 2017. The department takes care of death certificates in the state. Before he was appointed by the then gov. John Kasich, Hodges served in Ohio House for five years. He and Oberfell have become known by the court proceedings and have become friends.
What were the legal arguments?
In the lawsuit entitled Oberfell against Hodges, it was finally argued that the marriage is guaranteed after the fourteenth amendment of the US constitution, especially after the clauses of the proper procedure and the same protection.
The legal disputes consolidated several lawsuits that were submitted by same -sex couples in Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee, to whom marriage certificates or the recognition for their non -state marriages had been refused and whose cases had led to contradictory opinions before the federal courts.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court decided that the right to get married is fundamental and called it “the freedom of the person” and therefore protected by the constitution. The judgment effectively took up the bans at the state level on same -sex marriages and the laws that reject it to recognize same -sex marriages in other jurisdiction.
The effects of the decision in custody, property, tax, insurance and business effects of the decision also had extensive impact on other legal areas.
How did the country react to the decision?
Same-sex marriages rose in the immediate vicinity of the Oberfell decision, since they poured couples and those who already lived as a household partner in the courthouse and those of worshipers who welcomed them to legalize their unions. During the following decade, the number of married same -sex couples more than doubled to an estimated 823,000.
Not all (*10*) supported the change. Kim Davis, a clerk at the time in Rowan County, Kentucky, was the national symbol for opponents who refused to give the licenses of the marriage for religious reasons. She was briefly locked up and praised weeks long as opponents of the Homo -he praised her in the whole country.
Davis, a Republican, lost their offer for re -election in 2018. It was instructed to pay thousands in lawyers who were created by a couple that could not receive a license from their office. In July 2024, she appealed to lift up to top.
While he is thinking about the 10th anniversary of the decision, Oberfell was concerned about the state of the LGBTQ+ rights in the country and the possibility that a case could reach the Supreme Court that could be deleted with his name.
Eight countries have introduced resolutions this year that demand a reversal, and the Southern Baptist Convention voted at the beginning of this month at his meeting in Dallas mostly for the ban on the Homo today and the rise of the Oberfell decision. In the meantime, more than a dozen states have moved to strengthen legal protection for same -sex couples if Oberfell is ever lifted.
In 2025, about 7 out of 10 (*10*) 68% said that marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized as valid, compared to 60% in May 2015.
