The Williams Institute

This research brief analyzes the impact of the US Supreme Court’s decisions in Windsor v. United States (June 2013) and Obergefell v. Hodges (June 2015) on marriage by same-sex couples.  In 2013, the year that the Windsor ruling was issued, an estimated 230,000 same-sex couples were married, 21% of all same-sex couples. By June 2015, when Obergefell was decided, 390,000 same-sex couples were married, 38% of all same-sex couples. As of October 2015, 486,000 same-sex couples were married, or 45% of all same-sex couples. The legal benefits and obligations of marriage now support these married couples, more than a quarter of whom are raising children, and the visibility of these families will likely continue to accelerate public support for marriage equality in the United States.