As of June 26th, 2015, all states are required to grant and recognize same-sex marriages. In the recent Obergefell v. Hodges case, the United States Supreme Court ruled on a narrow 5-4 vote that same-sex marriages are protected by the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The case syllabus declares that "the State laws challenged by the petitioners in these cases are held invalid to the extent that they exclude same-sex couples from civil marriage on the same terms and conditions as opposite-sex couples. Pp. 22-23."
Texas is one of 14 states that are affected by this ruling, as the state's previous same-sex marriage ban has been lifted under this ruling.
Affected states include:
- Texas
- Arkansas
- Alabama
- Georgia
- South Dakota
- North Dakota
- Nebraska
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Michigan
- Louisiana
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Most of Missouri
Under this ruling, same-sex couples will now be able to legally wed in all 50 states, a historical landmark that President Barack Obama has declared "justice that arrives like a thunderbolt." County clerks have already begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples throughout Texas and the rest of the country.
For more information, clickclick here here to read the article written by the Associated Press.