Obergefell v. Hodges

"Marriage has always been about joining persons together, regardless of their identity."

"To exclude from fundamental rights based on identity is to make that identity a sentence."

"Legal dignity is the foundation upon which all other freedoms rest."

"The State's power to regulate marriage must yield to individual liberty to choose marriage."

"Discrimination becomes invisible only when we stop seeing the humanity of those excluded."

"The equal dignity of all citizens is not a favor to be granted; it is a constitutional command."

"Love recognized by law is more powerful than love denied, for it affirms reality."

"Rights are not privileges the government extends; they are protections it must honor."

"When law denies what love affirms, law loses credibility and legitimacy."

"The Constitution's promise is that no one may be treated as a subordinate class."

"Fundamental rights must be grounded in reason and principle, not preference and habit."

"Marriage equality demonstrates that law follows moral understanding, not the reverse."

"The right to marry extends to all persons, for all persons are capable of love and commitment."

"To deny equal protection is to suggest that some human beings matter less."

"The law's recognition of equal dignity is the beginning of equal freedom."

"Those who build their lives on the foundation of equal rights are strengthening our democracy."

"Legal protection of marriage is inseparable from protection of human dignity."

"The court's role is not to prefer tradition but to protect rights."

"Equality requires seeing others not as exceptions but as equals."

"The Constitution's shield of equal protection exists precisely for those society would exclude."

"Marriage, in its most essential meaning, is about commitment between two people."

"When law finally recognizes what should always have been true, healing can begin."

"The right to marry is inseparable from the right to be treated as a full citizen."

"Love, once denied by law, becomes vindicated when law acknowledges reality."

"Equal protection of the laws is the promise upon which the Constitution rests."

"To enforce inequality is to use governmental power against the powerless."

"The deepest purpose of equal protection is to affirm that all people matter equally."

"Marriage represents a choice about the most intimate details of life and identity."

"When the law finally aligns with justice, it validates the dignity long denied."

"Constitutional rights are not rewards for the popular; they are protections for the vulnerable."