Obergefell v. Hodges

"The right to marry cannot be conditioned on the race of the two persons to be married."

"Applying longstanding constitutional principles to these cases, the Court holds the same reasoning is relevant to same-sex couples."

"The generations of same-sex couples have waited too long for their rights to be affirmed."

"This is not the first time the nation has ratified laws on this subject with significant personal, moral, and spiritual significance."

"The parties before the Court are again diverse, as in other marriage cases, encompassing opposite-sex and same-sex couples."

"A successful same-sex couple seeking to get married because of the love they share seems to embody the very ideal of marital relation."

"Denied the right to marry by their home states, same-sex couples were barred from using the rights and benefits of marriage."

"The marriage laws at issue make same-sex couples unequal in a way that demeans them."

"This is the very definition of a liberty interest protected by the Fourteenth Amendment."

"Same-sex couples, who chose to marry, rejected the path of living alone without marital bonds."

"The Court long has recognized that the right to marry is protected as a fundamental right."

"What once passed unquestioned must now be tested with a renewed understanding of the meaning and depth of the liberty protected by the Constitution."

"The right to self-determination in matters of conscience must be weighed in a new understanding of the liberty and equality principles."

"This case involves the right to marry without regard to the gender of one's partner."

"Absent from the post-Windsor jurisprudence is any carefully developed argument that same-sex couples should have less dignity in the eyes of the law than heterosexual couples."

"The marriage right, understood as a purely domestic matter, has not in past practice been thought to implicate the federal government to the extent here at issue."

"The evolution of our understanding of liberty reflects the insights of prior generations, even when those insights seemed settled."

"The isolation of same-sex couples must be seen for what it is—governmental classification based on the inability or unwillingness to conform to an expectation of opposite-sex union."

"The Court has long recognized that the right to marry is a liberty interest that must be protected from unwarranted government interference."

"The challenge raised by same-sex couples for recognition of their right to marry is rooted in the most basic human experiences."

"If the Constitution protects the right to marry, it must protect it equally."

"The Court's role is not to rule on the wisdom of marriage policy but to enforce the rights protected by the Constitution."

"This Court has established that marriage is a fundamental right protected by the Constitution."

"Same-sex marriage is rooted in the desire for mutual support and commitment that underlie the institution of marriage itself."

"The transformation of the institution through its recognition of same-sex unions strengthens rather than weakens it."

"The Constitution guards the liberty of all against deprivation without due process of law."

"A new generation needs not feel bound by the errors or limitations of the past."

"The right to marry is protected for all citizens, not just some."

"Marriage is described by the Solicitor General as the foundation of the social order."

"The petitioners seek recognition, not as an inferior institution, but as a fulfillment of equal dignity."