Happy Equality Day
June 26 is a special day in LGBTQ+ history. On this date, we’ve received three very significant Supreme Court decisions that have greatly expanded our rights as Americans to live our lives fully and openly.
June 26, 2003 - Lawrence v. Texas
Twenty years ago today, on June 26, 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that states could no longer criminalize consensual sexual conduct between two people of the same sex. This case invalidated “anti-sodomy” laws across the country.
Unfortunately, this law is still on the books in Texas. If the current conservative Supreme Court found a way to reverse this decision, I have no doubt that the leaders of Texas would cheerfully start enforcing this law again.
June 26, 2013 - United States v. Windsor
Ten years ago today, on June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court overturned Section 3 of the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and ruled that same-sex couples who are legally married under state law deserve the same rights and benefits provided by marriage under federal law.
This ruling did not mandate that states allow same-sex couple to marry, however, it did require the federal government to recognize and treat all same-sex marriages in these states the same way they treat opposite-sex marriages.
This case was a tax case, so it’s near and dear to this LGBTQ+ accountant’s heart. Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer were a same-sex couple who were married in Canada in 2007. When Spyer died in 2009, she left her estate to Windsor. Because their marriage was not recognized under federal law, Windsor was required to pay more than $363,000 in federal estate taxes. She sued the government, arguing that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional.
June 26, 2015 - Obergefell v. Hodges
Eight years ago today, on June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, providing same-sex couples the right to get married in every state in the U. S.
In this case, the Court held that state bans on same-sex marriage and on recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere are unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
This ruling was a milestone in LGBTQ+ equality and helped usher in a new phase of societal acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community. Getting married allowed our families and friends to participate in our lives and, to a larger degree than I initially expected, being married gave a lot more legitimacy to our relationships to member of the public who weren’t accepting of us before.
Celebrate, but don't relax
Let’s all time a moment during Pride Month to celebrate our accomplishments and the rights we’ve won. Just don’t forget there was a lot of hard work and uncomfortable times that lead up to these momentous Supreme Court cases.
Unfortunately, there are still segments of our society that don’t agree with these rulings and will do anything they can to reverse them. Many of the laws that were overturned are technically still on the books in many states. If the Supreme Court were to reverse the rulings, the bans would kick back in and make life extremely more complicated for the LGBTQ+ community. Not only do we have to continue our fight for true equality, we have to fight to KEEP the rights that we do have.
