So, you're wondering what year was gay marriage legalized in us. Most people usually just point to one big date and leave it at that, but honestly, the answer is a little more layered than a single calendar flip. If you’re looking for the short answer: 2015 was the year the Supreme Court finally made it the law of the land for all fifty states.
But if you only remember 2015, you’re missing the actual drama of how we got there. It wasn’t like the country just woke up one morning and decided to change the rules. It was a messy, decades-long scrap that moved state by state, court by court, and even included a few frustrating steps backward.
The Big One: Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
June 26, 2015. That’s the "official" birthday of nationwide marriage equality. The Supreme Court handed down its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, and basically told every state in the union that they couldn't ban same-sex couples from getting married anymore.
It was a 5-4 ruling. Incredibly close. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, and he leaned heavy into the idea of "dignity." He argued that the Fourteenth Amendment basically guarantees the right to marry as a fundamental liberty.
Before that ruling?
Thirteen states still had flat-out bans. If you lived in Ohio (where the lead plaintiff Jim Obergefell was from) or Michigan, your relationship just wasn't recognized the same way it would be in New York or California. The 2015 ruling fixed that "zip code" version of civil rights.
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Wait, what about 2004?
A lot of people forget that Massachusetts was the actual pioneer here. In 2004, it became the first state to legalize gay marriage. This happened because of a state supreme court ruling (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health).
For a long time after that, the US was a patchwork. You've probably heard of "civil unions" or "domestic partnerships"—those were the halfway houses states used when they weren't ready to use the word "marriage."
By the time 2015 rolled around, 37 states (plus D.C.) had already legalized it on their own. Some did it through their own courts, some through the legislature, and a few—like Maine, Maryland, and Washington in 2012—did it by popular vote.
The 2013 Milestone: United States v. Windsor
There’s another year you’ve gotta know: 2013.
Before the 2015 nationwide ruling, the federal government was stuck behind the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Even if you were legally married in Massachusetts, the IRS or the Social Security Administration didn't care. They wouldn't give you federal benefits.
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Edith Windsor changed that. She sued the government because she was hit with a massive estate tax bill after her wife died—a bill a heterosexual widow wouldn't have had to pay. The Supreme Court sided with her in 2013, striking down the part of DOMA that defined marriage as only between a man and a woman.
This didn't force every state to legalize it yet, but it meant the federal government had to start recognizing the marriages that already existed. It was the "beginning of the end" for the bans.
Why it still feels like a hot topic
Even though the question of "what year was gay marriage legalized in us" has a firm answer (2015), the legal world doesn't just sit still. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, a lot of couples got nervous. Justice Clarence Thomas even suggested in his concurring opinion that the court should "reconsider" other past rulings, including Obergefell.
To get ahead of that, Congress passed the Respect for Marriage Act in late 2022. President Biden signed it into law to add an extra layer of protection. While it doesn't technically force a state to issue new licenses if Obergefell were ever overturned, it does force every state (and the feds) to recognize valid marriages performed elsewhere. It’s a safety net.
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Real-world impact by the numbers
It's not just about the "right" to marry; it's about the math of life. Once 2015 hit, thousands of couples suddenly gained access to:
- Joint tax filing (which honestly is a headache, but a legal one everyone deserves).
- Spousal Social Security benefits.
- Hospital visitation rights without needing a stack of legal power-of-attorney papers.
- Inheritance rights that don't get tied up in probate court for years.
The Williams Institute at UCLA actually found that the number of married same-sex couples more than doubled in the decade following the ruling. We're talking about over 800,000 couples today.
What to do if you’re navigating this now
If you’re looking into the legalities for your own life or a family member, don't just stop at the year 2015. Here is the "expert" advice on how to handle the current landscape:
- Check your documents: Even though the law is national, make sure your state-issued IDs and federal records (like Social Security) match up.
- Understand the "State of Celebration" rule: Under the Respect for Marriage Act, as long as your marriage was legal in the place where it happened, it must be recognized nationwide for federal purposes.
- Keep a "Paper Trail": If you were married in a window where a state law was briefly overturned or "stayed" (like in California during the Prop 8 years), keep those original licenses safe. They are your primary proof of legal status.
Basically, 2015 was the year the door opened, but 2022 was the year they bolted it shut to make sure nobody could easily kick it back in.