Right to Marriage Equality: Read the Supreme Court's Full Opinion

The U.S. Supreme Court has legalized same sex marriage in a 5-4 decision issued on June 26.

Click here to read the Supreme Court’s full opinion.

Read more: Supreme Court Rules 5-4 in Favor of Gay Marriage

The ruling will not mean changes in Massachusetts. The state legalized gay marriage over 10 years ago.

Massachusetts Case Legalizing Marriage

“Goodridge v. Mass. Department of Public Health , 440 Mass. 309 (2003). Massachusetts’ “gay marriage” decision. “Barred access to the protections, benefits, and obligations of civil marriage, a person who enters into an intimate, exclusive union with another of the same sex is arbitrarily deprived of membership in one of our community’s most rewarding and cherished institutions. That exclusion is incompatible with the constitutional principles of respect for individual autonomy and equality under law.” For briefs and other pleadings, see Goodridge v. Department of Public Health Case Documents , Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD).” -- Massachusetts Court System,