What does the 14th amendment say about gay marriage

In striking down Section 3, the Court did not expressly set out what test the government must meet to justify laws calling for differentiated treatment based on sexual orientation. Two years after Windsor , the Court, in Obergefell v. Hodges invalidated several state laws limiting the licensing and recognition of marriage to two people of the opposite sex.

The Equal Protection Clause Guarantees the Right to Marry

The fundamental right to marry does not include a right to make a State change its definition of marriage. In short, our Constitution does not enact any one theory of marriage. The people of a State are free to expand marriage to include same-sex couples, or to retain the historic definition.

The Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause

Yet since then, the Supreme Court has elaborated significantly on this core understanding. The key questions are: What procedures satisfy due process? Historically, due process ordinarily entailed a jury trial. The jury determined the facts and the judge enforced the law.

The issue: Does the Constitution protect homosexual conduct? What limitations does the Constitution place on ability of states to treat people differently because of their sexual orientation? The Court first considered the matter in the case of Bowers v Hardwick , a challenge to a Georgia law authorizing criminal penalties for persons found guilty of sodomy.