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22 

OBERGEFELL v. HODGES 

Opinion of the Court 

tion of habitual criminals.  See 316 U. S., at 538–543. 

In  Lawrence  the  Court  acknowledged  the  interlocking
nature of these constitutional safeguards in the context of 
the legal treatment of gays and lesbians.  See 539 U. S., at 
575.  Although Lawrence elaborated its holding under the 
Due  Process  Clause,  it  acknowledged,  and  sought  to  rem- 
edy,  the  continuing  inequality  that  resulted  from  laws
making intimacy in the lives of gays and lesbians a crime
against  the  State.  See  ibid.  Lawrence  therefore  drew 
upon  principles  of  liberty  and  equality  to  define  and  pro-
tect  the  rights  of  gays  and  lesbians,  holding  the  State
“cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by
making their private sexual conduct a crime.”  Id., at 578. 

This  dynamic  also  applies  to  same-sex  marriage.    It  is 
now  clear  that  the  challenged  laws  burden  the  liberty  of 
same-sex  couples,  and  it  must  be  further  acknowledged
that  they  abridge  central  precepts  of  equality.    Here  the 
marriage laws enforced by the respondents are in essence 
unequal:  same-sex  couples  are  denied  all  the  benefits
afforded to opposite-sex couples and are barred from exer-
cising  a  fundamental  right.    Especially  against  a  long
history of disapproval of their relationships, this denial to 
same-sex couples of the right to marry works a grave and
continuing harm.  The imposition of this disability on gays
and  lesbians  serves  to  disrespect  and  subordinate  them. 
And  the  Equal  Protection  Clause,  like  the  Due  Process
Clause,  prohibits  this  unjustified  infringement  of  the
fundamental right to marry.  See, e.g., Zablocki, supra, at 
383–388; Skinner, 316 U. S., at 541. 

These  considerations  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
right  to  marry  is  a  fundamental  right  inherent  in  the
liberty  of  the  person,  and  under  the  Due  Process  and 
Equal  Protection  Clauses  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment 
couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right 
and  that  liberty.    The  Court  now  holds  that  same-sex 
couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry.  No