Welcome to Marriage Equality in the Courts

MEUSA Legal Director John Lewis

(Updated 9 January 2012)

The United States Supreme Court will hear two potentially landmark cases addressing the freedom to marry and marriage equality in 2013. (Resources for marriage equality at the U.S. Supreme Court.)

The Court will hear oral argument in Hollingsworth (the Prop. 8 case) at 10:00 am (EDT) on Tuesday, 26 March 2013 and in Windsor (the DOMA case) at 10:00 am (EDT) on Wednesday, 27 March 2013.  The Court will likely issue decisions in the cases by the end of June 2013.

Background: On 7 December 2012, the Court announced that it will hear Hollingsworth v. Perry, the case regarding the constitutionality of Proposition 8, which took away the freedom to marry from loving, committed lesbian and gay couples in California.  On the same day, the Court announced that it will hear United States v. Windsor, a case challenging the constitutionality of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which excludes loving, committed same-sex couples from over 1,000 rights and responsibilities that come with marriage under federal law. 

Loving, committed same-sex couples are standing up for their families and pursuing marriage equality in a variety of lawsuits in federal and state courts.  The Marriage Equality in the Courts webpages detail the major cases in the following pages:

Hollingsworth v. Perry -- The federal lawsuit, challenging Proposition 8, which took away the freedom to marry for sames-sex couples in California.

Federal Cases Challenging DOMA -- a summary of the DOMA cases across the country, including the Department of Justice's decision not to defend DOMA in court.

Cases Challenging State Marriage Bans -- a summary of current cases (other than the Perry Prop. 8 case), challenging state marriage bans and a listing of earlier state supreme court cases establishing marriage equality in a variety of states.