How have same-sex marriage laws changed since the repeal of DOMA in 2013?
Executive summary
Since the Supreme Court invalidated key parts of the Defense of Marriage Act in United States v. Windsor and then guaranteed a constitutional right to same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges , federal and state marriage law shifted from a patchwork of prohibitions and nonrecognition to nationwide legal equality for same-sex couples; Congress later codified those protections and formally repealed DOMA with the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022 [1] [2] [3]. Still, vestiges of pre‑Obergefell statutes, territorial exceptions, and ongoing political and judicial debate mean legal certainty rests on both the Supreme Court’s precedents and the statutory backstop Congress created [4] [5] [6].
1. From partial federal recognition to constitutional guarantee: the immediate legal turn after Windsor
The 2013 Windsor decision struck down Section 3 of DOMA, removing the federal government’s blanket refusal to recognize lawful same-sex marriages and restoring access to the scores of federal benefits tied to marriage, a shift that began unravelling DOMA’s legal architecture [1] [3]. That ruling left states’ bans intact, however, meaning change after Windsor was significant at the federal level but incomplete for statewide marriage access until Obergefell [1].
2. Obergefell made marriage equality the law of the land — but not every statute disappeared from the books
In 2015 the Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states both to license same-sex marriages and to recognize those lawful marriages performed elsewhere, effectively invalidating state bans and Section 2’s nonrecognition rule, yet many state constitutions and statutes still retain “zombie” language that would take effect if Obergefell were overturned [2] [4]. Practically, Obergefell equalized marriage access across states, but the persistence of dormant statutory bans created ongoing legal fragility [2] [4].
3. Congress’s Respect for Marriage Act: statutory insurance and formal repeal of DOMA
Congress codified protections with the Respect for Marriage Act (RMA), which repealed DOMA, required federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages, and mandated interstate recognition of marriages performed in jurisdictions where they are valid; President Biden signed the bill into law on December 13, 2022 [3] [5]. Supporters described the RMA as practical “insurance” against a future Supreme Court reversal of Obergefell and as the final legislative repudiation of DOMA’s discrimination [6] [7].
4. Practical effects: benefits, interstate travel, territories and tribal sovereignty
Because federal recognition returned and was later enshrined by statute, married same-sex couples now access the full suite of federal rights and benefits previously denied under DOMA — Social Security, veterans’ benefits, federal tax and immigration considerations among others — and can rely on interstate recognition when traveling or relocating, though American Samoa and federally recognized tribes retain distinct sovereign or territorial rules that the RMA does not fully override [1] [5] [8].
5. Remaining fault lines: “zombie” laws, political mobilization, and judicial uncertainty
Despite statutory and constitutional protections, over 30 states retain inactive bans or constitutional amendments that opponents note would reactivate if Obergefell were reversed, a vulnerability that helped drive the RMA’s passage as a safeguard; commentators and advocacy groups framed the RMA as necessary insurance precisely because of the Supreme Court’s shifting posture on precedent in other recent decisions [4] [6] [5]. The political uses of marriage law remain clear: repeal and codification were both legal fixes and deliberate responses to growing judicial instability and partisan dynamics [7] [5].
6. What changed, and what didn’t — a concise legal takeaway
Legally, same-sex marriage moved from a fragmented regime under DOMA to constitutionally guaranteed nationwide access under Obergefell and then to a reinforced statutory framework under the RMA that repealed DOMA and ensured federal recognition and interstate respect; what did not change entirely are residual state texts, territorial exceptions, and the political contest over ultimate authority between Congress and the Supreme Court, meaning the stability of marriage equality now rests on both branches [2] [3] [5].