Compiled By Shelby Clark Petkus
The consolidation of four same-sex marriage cases before the U.S. Supreme Court is not the first example of LGBT issues making it to Washington D.C. Those cases — Obergefell v. Hodges (Case No. 14-556) from Ohio; Tanco v. Haslam (Case No. 14-562) from Tennessee; DeBoer v. Snyder (Case No. 14-571) from Michigan; and Bourke v. Beshear (Case No. 14-574) from Kentucky — have several cases that paved their way to SCOTUS.
One, Inc. v. Olesen (1958)
The first U.S. Supreme Court ruling to deal with homosexuality, as well as the first to deal with free speech rights surrounding LGBT issues, this case involved obscenity. Speech "in favor of homosexuals" was ruled as not inherently obscene.
Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)
A decision overturned by 2003's Lawrence v. Texas, this sodomy case found that there was no constitutional right to private homosexual acts. In a 5-4 ruling, the majority said the "right of privacy" under the Due Process Clause does not give homosexuals the right to engage in sodomy.
Romer v. Evans (1996)
Colorado's Amendment 2 was struck down in a 6-3 decision. The amendment had denied gays and lesbians protections against discrimination, but Justice Anthony Kennedy stated, "We find nothing special in the protections Amendment 2 withholds. These protections… constitute ordinary civil life in a free society."
Boy Scouts of America v Dale (2000)
Like Bowers v. Hardwick, this decision proved a setback for the gay-rights movement. In yet another 5-4 ruling, SCOTUS found that that Boy Scouts of America have a constitutional right to ban gays.
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
This case overruled the earlier Bowers v. Hardwick decision in a 5-4 vote. Justice Kennedy wrote of the overturned Texas sodomy law, "The state cannot demean their [gays'] existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime."
United States v. Windsor (2013)
The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act was found unconstitutional in this 5-4 decision. It was ruled that DOMA violated the rights of gays and lesbians, and that the law interfered with states' rights to define marriage. This case was the first specific "gay marriage" case to face the Supreme Court.
Hollingsworth v. Perry (2013)
This decision overturned California's controversial state ban on same-sex marriage: Proposition 8. The ruling would allow same-sex couples to marry in California, though it did not affect other states with bans.
