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OBERGEFELL v. HODGES 

Opinion of the Court 

persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their 
identity.  The  petitioners  in  these  cases  seek  to  find  that
liberty  by  marrying  someone  of  the  same  sex  and  having 
their  marriages  deemed  lawful  on  the  same  terms  and
conditions  as  marriages  between  persons  of  the  opposite 
sex. 

I 

These  cases  come  from  Michigan,  Kentucky,  Ohio,  and 
Tennessee,  States  that  define  marriage  as  a  union  be-
tween  one  man  and  one  woman.  See,  e.g.,  Mich.  Const., 
Art.  I,  §25;  Ky.  Const.  §233A;  Ohio  Rev.  Code  Ann.
§3101.01  (Lexis  2008);  Tenn.  Const.,  Art.  XI,  §18.    The 
petitioners  are  14  same-sex  couples  and  two  men  whose
same-sex  partners  are  deceased.    The  respondents  are
state  officials  responsible  for  enforcing  the  laws  in  ques-
tion.  The  petitioners  claim  the  respondents  violate  the
Fourteenth  Amendment  by  denying  them  the  right  to 
marry  or  to  have  their  marriages,  lawfully  performed  in
another State, given full recognition.

Petitioners  filed  these  suits  in  United  States  District 
Courts in their home States.  Each District Court ruled in 
their  favor.  Citations  to  those  cases  are  in  Appendix  A, 
infra.  The  respondents  appealed  the  decisions  against 
them  to  the  United  States  Court  of  Appeals  for  the  Sixth 
Circuit.  It  consolidated  the  cases  and  reversed  the  judg-
ments of the District Courts.  DeBoer v. Snyder, 772 F. 3d 
388 (2014).  The Court of Appeals held that a State has no 
constitutional  obligation  to  license  same-sex  marriages  or 
to recognize same-sex marriages performed out of State. 

The  petitioners  sought  certiorari.    This  Court  granted 
review,  limited  to  two  questions.    574  U. S.  ___  (2015). 
The first, presented by the cases from Michigan and Ken-
tucky,  is  whether  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  requires  a
State  to  license  a  marriage  between  two  people  of  the 
same sex.  The second, presented by the cases from Ohio,