Sunday marks a year since the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.
In a bitterly divided 5-to-4 decision, the court on June 26, 2015 ruled that same-sex couples deserved equal protection under the law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
"In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. " Justice Anthony Kennedy, the swing vote, wrote for the majority. "They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them this right."
Until the court's ruling, same-sex marriage was still outlawed in 13 states. And prior to 2004, no states allowed it. Massachusetts took the first step, allowing the first legal gay marriages to proceed that May. And while other states were initially slow to follow suit, a sea change of public opinion and laws swept the nation over the course of the next decade, resulting in a rapid expansion of gay marriage rights.
But much like other major civil rights victories, the struggle doesn't end just because the law has changed. Today, just two weeks after 49 people were gunned down in a gay nightclub in Orlando, LGBT rights and protections remain far from guaranteed in many regions throughout the nation. As the Atlantic's CityLab site notes, there's been a surge over the last year in state and local legislation discriminating against the LGBT community, from anti-transgender “bathroom bills” to religious freedom legislation that would sanction discrimination and limit access to health and adoption services.
Below, a multimedia collage from Vox and a same-sex marriage map of the world, of which the U.S. is the newest member.