Obergefell v. Hodges

"The Constitution grants them a fundamental 'right to marry.'"

"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family."

"It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage."

"Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves."

"The right to marry is fundamental as a matter of history and tradition."

"Marriage is the most important relation in life."

"The decision whether and whom to marry is inherent in the concept of individual autonomy."

"This is true for all persons, same-sex and opposite-sex alike."

"The centrality of marriage to the human experience makes clear that same-sex couples cannot be excluded from this right."

"The history of marriage is one of continuity, yet it has evolved."

"Four principles and traditions demonstrate that the reasons marriage is fundamental under the Constitution apply with equal force to same-sex couples."

"The first premise of this Court's relevant precedents is that the right to personal choice regarding marriage is inherent in the concept of liberty."

"Marriage is a keystone of our social order."

"Without marriage, there would be no family in the usual sense."

"The lifelong union of man and woman always has promised an nobility and dignity to that union."

"Same-sex couples, too, may aspire to the transcendent purposes of marriage."

"They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law."

"The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach."

"This liberty includes certain specific rights that allow persons to define and express their identity."

"The right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life is central."

"The consequences of the petitioners' exclusion are severe and continuing."

"Many same-sex couples provide loving and nurturing homes to their children."

"For same-sex couples, the inability to marry has meant that their families are blessed through no state action."

"The laws at issue exclude same-sex couples from the constellation of benefits that the States have linked to marriage."

"This is injury and indignity of a kind the Constitution does not tolerate."

"These couples are not asking for recognition of a new right."

"They assert instead that rights to intimacy and autonomy protected by previous decisions protect them as well."

"Their hope is not to demean marriage but rather to achieve or protect recognition of their own union."

"The challenged laws burden the liberty of same-sex couples, and they abridge central precepts of equality."

"The right to marry has been recognized as vital in our most essential institutions."