About

Hodges is a landmark civil rights case in the United States that centered on the issue of same-sex marriage. The case was brought to the Supreme Court in 2015 and resulted in a historic ruling that legalized same-sex marriage throughout the country. The plaintiffs, Jim Obergefell and John Arthur, were a same-sex couple who wished to have their out-of-state marriage recognized in their home state of Ohio. However, the state refused to recognize their marriage and listed Obergefell as a single man on Arthur's death certificate when he passed away due to a terminal illness. This led Obergefell to file a lawsuit challenging Ohio's ban on same-sex marriage. The case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court, where the justices were tasked with deciding if states could deny same-sex couples the right to marry or refuse to recognize their marriages performed in other states. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that same-sex marriage was a fundamental right protected by the Constitution and that all states must allow same-sex couples to marry and recognize such marriages performed in other states. The decision not only had a significant impact on the legal recognition of same-sex relationships but also represented a major victory for the LGBTQ+ rights movement.