Marriage Equality
Since the first marriage lawsuit for same-sex couples in 1971, the ACLU has been at the forefront of both legal and public education efforts to secure marriage equality and win legal recognition for TLGBQ+ relationships.
Marriage has long been one way that couples express their love for one another and their commitment to their relationship. All couples who want to get married, make a lifetime commitment to the person they love, and protect their families should be able to do so.
In July, 2013, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the ACLU and the law firm of Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller filed a lawsuit, Whitewood v. Wolf, which challenged the commonwealth’s statutory definition of marriage as being “between one man and one woman.” The ACLU prevailed in federal court in 2014, establishing marriage equality in Pennsylvania one year before the U.S. Supreme Court’s nationwide ruling, Obergefell v. Hodges, overturning the federal definition of marriage as being “between one man and one woman.”
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