Goodridge v. Department of Public Health

Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (2003) was a landmark case in Massachusetts where the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that denying same-sex couples the right to marry was unconstitutional. The decision emphasized that marriage is a fundamental right and that sexual orientation should not determine one's access to it. This ruling found that the state's prohibitions against same-sex marriage violated the Massachusetts Constitution's guarantees of equality. As a result, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage, significantly impacting the national conversation on marriage equality.