When was same-sex marriage legalized in the US? A quick history of LGBTQ rights battles

There are 35 countries where same-sex marriage is legal. The most recent country to legalize same-sex marriage is Estonia, and its law went into effect Jan. 1 of this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

But LGBTQ+ rights are under attack in other political settings. The American Civil Liberties Union is currently tracking 300 anti-LGBTQ bills for the 2024 legislative session, many of them involving curriculum, pronouns and gender-affirming care. Last year, USA TODAY reported over 650 bills targeting the community were introduced in the first half of 2023.

When was same-sex marriage legalized in the US?

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal across the country with its ruling in the Obergefell v. Hodges case.

According to Supreme Court database Oyez, this case was brought up to the Supreme Court after groups of same-sex couples sued state agencies in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, challenging these states’ bans on same-sex marriage.

Some of these states’ same-sex marriage bans were part of a national movement in response to President George W. Bush’s call for a constitutional amendment banning the practice.

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Same-sex couples and adoption

In 2003, Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex couples to adopt children, according to the Boston Globe — but the journey to national adoption equality was far from over.

In 2016, a Federal District Court voided a law in Mississippi which prevented gay couples from adopting children, according to the Washington Post. The court cited the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in its decision.

In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled against an Arkansas law which required adoption papers to define parents by gender, eliminating an obstacle to same-sex parenthood. Before this ruling, same-sex couples required a court order to have both parents’ names on their child’s birth certificate, according to AP News.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When was gay marriage legalized? Obergefell v. Hodges explained.