The Promise of Liberty to All: The Long March to Marriage Equality

In June 2015, the United States of America became the eighteenth country where same-sex marriage could be performed. In the judgment of Obergefell v Hodges, a bare 5-4 majority of the United States Supreme Court held that there was a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, and that individual States must recognise lawful same-sex marriages performed in other States. The decision is the culmination of a more than forty year judicial story, clearly illustrating the power of one judge to influence and shape the interpretation of the Constitution, and the direction the law takes.