This article contains a timeline of significant events regarding same-sex marriage in the United States. On June 26, 2015, the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges effectively ended restrictions on same-sex marriage in the United States.

Pre-1950s

1886

In Grand Rapids, Michigan, male impersonator Annie Hindle married her dresser Annie Ryan while on a tour through the mid-west. Hindle dressed in male clothing and gave her name as Charles and a local Baptist minister performed the ceremony.

1950s

1953 August: Shipment of the August 1953 issue of ONE magazine, with the cover story "Homosexual Marriage?", is delayed by U.S Post Office officials for three weeks while they try to determine whether its contents are obscene.

1958 January 13, 1958: In One, Inc. v. Olesen, the United States Supreme Court rules that homosexual writings cannot be banned from mailing under the guise of obscenity.

1960s

1964 A woman in Jess Stearn's popular non-fiction work The Grapevine: A Report on the Secret World of the Lesbian explains that she congratulated two men on their wedding because "Having no status in the law of the land...the homosexual marriage must be maintained only through mutual love and devotion of those involved."

1966 Publishers Weekly reports that Jean Genet's The Miracle of the Rose "delicately describes a secret homosexual marriage".

1967 December 3: Theologians who object to acceptance of homosexual relationships are reported to be "dubious about how 'fulfilling' even a lasting homosexual relationship can be and point out that a homosexual 'marriage' lacks the discipline and formal commitment of legal sanctions".

1968 December 22: A report in the New York Times says the plot of Spitting Image, a play scheduled for Off Broadway in February, involves "a pair of homosexuals who marry and have a baby". It calls the premise "farcical" and an "outrageous charade".

1970s

1970 The modern gay movement for PRIDE and marriage equality in the United States began on the Minneapolis campus (U of M) of the University of Minnesota.Sources: Michael McConnell Files, "America’s First Gay Marriage" (binder #7), Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies, U of M Libraries. University president Eric Kaler apologized to McConnell for the treatment inflicted by the Board of Regents in 1970. 22 June 2012: Anon., "News", University News Service. "U of M President Eric Kaler has called McConnell's treatment reprehensible, regrets that it occurred and says that the university's actions at that time were not consistent with the practices enforced today at the university." 17 February 2020: McConnell received a letter from Robert Burgett (Senior Vice President, University of Minnesota Foundation) announcing his enrollment as a member of the Heritage Society of the President's Club. James Michael McConnell, librarian,Sources: Michael McConnell Files, "Full Equality, a diary" (volumes 5a-e), Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies, U of M Libraries. March 1967: On Baker's 25th Birthday, McConnell insisted that he would accept Baker's invitation to be lovers if, and only if, he could find a way for the relationship to be recognized as a "legal" marriage. June 1970: University Librarian mailed an offer of employment to McConnell. July 1970: James F. Hogg (Secretary, the Board of Regents) arranged for a letter to be delivered to McConnell: The Board accepted the recommendation of its Executive Committee "That the appointment of Mr. J. M. McConnell to the position of the Head of the Cataloging Division of the St. Paul Campus Library at the rank of Instructor not be approved on the grounds that his personal conduct, as represented in the public and University news media, is not consistent with the best interest of the University." 1971: A federal court of appeals allowed such discrimination to continue. 1972: Hennepin County Library, then a diverse and growing system of 26 facilities, hired McConnell. and Richard John Baker,Sources: Michael McConnell Files, "Full Equality, a diary", (volumes 6a-b), Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies, U of M Libraries. As a student body president (elected 1971, re-elected 1972), he was known by different names: March 1942: Richard John Baker, Certificate of Birth September 1969: Jack Baker, name adopted to lead activists demanding gay equality August 1971: Pat Lyn McConnell, married name via Decree of Adoption law student, applied for a marriage license.May: in Minneapolis, within the Fourth Judicial District, which includes all of Hennepin County. Gerald R. Nelson, Clerk of District Court, denied the license because both applicants were men.Sources: Michael McConnell Files, "Full Equality, a diary", (volume 2ab), Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies, U of M Libraries. May 1970: Letter addressed to Gerald R. Nelson from George M. Scot, County Attorney page 6: "The consequences of an interpretation of our marriage statutes which would permit males to enter into the marriage contract could be to result in an undermining and destruction of the entire legal concept of our family structure in all areas of law." Baker sued Nelson, insisting that the license was not forbidden."Minnesota Statutes Annotated", West Publishing Co. Chapter 517.01: Marriage a civil contract. "Marriage, so far as its validity in law is concerned, is a civil contract, to which the consent of the parties, capable in law of contracting, is essential." Chapter 517.03: Marriages prohibited. [The list does not include parties of the same gender.] Courts were not persuaded.

1971 January 26: Look magazine devotes three pages of its cover story "The American Family" to a gay couple, Jack Baker and Michael McConnell. June 4: Members of the Gay Activists Alliance demand marriage rights for same-sex couples at New York City's Marriage License Bureau. Jack Baker and Michael McConnell apply and are granted a marriage license in Blue Earth County, Minnesota after discovering the county has no laws prohibiting same sex marriage. Therefore on September 3, 1971 both men became the first legally married same sex couple in US and modern recorded history. October 15: The Minnesota Supreme Court rules in Baker v. Nelson that the state's statute limiting marriage to different-sex couples does not violate the U.S. Constitution. However this ruling did not invalidate the 1971 license in Blue Earth County

1972 The National Coalition of Gay Organizations calls for the repeal of all statutes that limit marriage to different-sex couples and for extending the legal benefits of marriage to all cohabiting couples. March 21: Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana, principal sponsor of the Equal Rights Amendment, defends it against critics who contend it would require states to permit same-sex marriages: "All it says is that if a state legislature makes a judgment that it is wrong for a man to marry a man, then it must say that it is wrong for a woman to marry a woman".; Phyllis Schlafly and Paul Freund contended that the ERA would invalidate laws denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples. October 10: The United States Supreme Court dismisses appeal in Baker v. Nelson, a decision that refused to invalidate Minnesota's restriction of marriage to different-sex couples, "for want of a substantial federal question." Until 26 June 2015, dismissal of the appeal challenging the Minnesota opinionTitle of decision, as posted by the court. NOTE: The U.S. Supreme Court was required to accept the appeal as a matter of right, a practice that the Supreme Court Case Selections Act ended in 1988. was treated as a binding precedent. Thus, lower federal courts could not offer a contrary conclusion when presented with the precise issue "necessarily decided" by the Court. Because Hennepin County had argued that the marriage license issued previously in Blue Earth County rendered this case Moot,Sources: Michael McConnell Files, "America’s First Gay Marriage" (binder #3), Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies, U of M Libraries. October Term, 1972: "Appellee's Motion to Dismiss Appeal and Brief" by George M. Scott, County Attorney page 7: "Questions Raised by This Appeal Are Moot". the "precise issue" necessarily decided by the Court may not have been the inherent right of gay citizens to marry the adult of one's choice.

1973 January: The Yale Law Journal publishes an unsigned article, "The Legality of Homosexual Marriage", which argues that "[a] credible case can be made that the denial of marriage licenses to all homosexual couples violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment" and that the proposed Equal Rights Amendment would make such a claim irrefutable. July 1: Maryland bans same-sex marriage, the first state to enact such a statute. Some sources date this statute to January 1, 1973, but the 2006 court decision in Conaway and Deane refers to votes recorded in "1973 Senate Journal at 273 and 1973 House Journal at 274", citing legislative activity during 1973. p. 27 note 15, accessed March 27, 2013. One source in the records of the Maryland General Assembly sets the effective date as July 1, 1973. See Archives of Maryland Online: Session Laws, 1973; Volume 709, Page 574 November 9: The Kentucky Court of Appeals rules in Jones v. Hallahan that two women were properly denied a marriage license based on dictionary definitions of marriage, despite the fact that state statutes do not restrict marriage to a female-male couple.; Kentucky Court of Appeals: Jones v. Hallahan, November 9, 1973

1974 May 2: The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) airs an installment of its one-hour debate series The Advocates that considers the question "Should Marriage Between Homosexuals Be Permitted?". Participants include Frank Kameny, Elaine Noble, and Charles Socarides. May 20: The Washington Court of Appeals holds in Singer v. Hara that the state's statute banning same-sex marriage does not violate the state constitution and raises no federal issues.

1975 March 26 – April 22: In Colorado, the Boulder County Clerk, Clela Rorex, issues marriage licenses to 6 same-sex couples after receiving a favorable opinion from an assistant district attorney. When one of those married in Boulder tried to use it to sponsor his husband for immigration purposes, he lost his case, Adams v. Howerton, years later in federal court. Virginia enacts a statute that says "A marriage between persons of the same sex is prohibited." In 1977 it was amended to prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages established in other jurisdictions.

1977 June 8: Governor Reubin Askew signs legislation banning same-sex marriage in Florida. August 18: Governor Jerry Brown signs legislation banning same-sex marriage in California. Wyoming bans same-sex marriage by statute.

1980s

1980 March: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposes to the Equal Rights Amendment in part because its passage "could extend legal protection to same-sex lesbian and homosexual marriages", citing the arguments made by Paul A. Freund of Harvard Law School before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

1982 February 25: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, deciding Adams v. Howerton, holds that for immigration purposes Congress intended its use of the words marriage and spouse to have their "ordinary meaning" which "contemplates a relationship between a man and a woman". May: San Francisco Board of Supervisors passes Harry Britt's measure to extend health insurance coverage to same-sex domestic partners of public employees, largely because of the reaction to the early days of AIDS, but does not provide for a registry available to the general public. Mayor Dianne Feinstein vetoes the measure.

1984