Describe the historic trajectory of the fight for marriage equality for same-sex couples, including a description of DOMA

What will be an idial response.


Answer: Starting with the 1965 Loving v. Virginia ruling that marriage is a fundamental right, and building on the right to privacy in marriage from the 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut ruling, supporters of same-sex marriage were pushing to have marital rights extended to same-sex couples.

In 1996, DOMA was enacted to define “marriage” at a federal level. Under DOMA, states weren’t required to recognize a marriage legal in another state if it was at odds withtheir own laws. Also, DOMA defined marriage as “an exclusive relationship between a man and a woman” for the purposes of federal lawmaking.

In 2003 in the Goodridge v. Department of Public Health decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.

In 2013 in the United States v. Windsor decision, the US Supreme Court struck down the DOMA definition of marriage. This decision was then cited to help strike down state level same-sex marriage bans.

Legal Studies & Paralegal

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Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).

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What will be an ideal response?

Legal Studies & Paralegal