Coinciding with LGBTQ Pride celebrations across the nation, the Supreme Court removed all obstacles to marriage equality on June 26, 2015 in Obergefell v. Hodges. As the two year anniversary of that milestone approaches, LGBTQ people face a protracted struggle for basic civil equality under an administration overtly hostile toward minorities.

Despite that, Obergefell has become nearly legendary.

The Couple

At the heart of the case that removed obstacles to marriage for LGBTQ people lies a couple who’d been together since 1992. When they decided to legally marry in 2013 after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), time had become an issue.

Photo courtesy of Jim Obergefell

As Jim Obergefell’s partner John Arthur fought against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the couple traveled from their Ohio home (where LGBTQ couples could not legally marry) to Maryland (where they could). After marrying on the tarmac at Baltimore–Washington International Airport, they immediately returned home.

They later discovered that in addition to refusing to marry same-sex couples, Ohio also wouldn’t recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. They filed suit to change that so Obergefell could be listed as spouse on Arthur’s death certificate.

The case worked its way through the system and ended up at the U.S. Supreme Court – but not before Arthur passed away.

The Case

Obergefell v. Hodges actually consolidated six different cases all similar in nature. At the heart of each case, couples argued that banning same-sex couples from accessing the legal institution of marriage violated the U.S. Constitution. In total, 32 plaintiffs petitioned the Supreme Court under the Obergefell umbrella.

In the high court’s majority opinion – read from the bench by Justice Anthony Kennedy – the U.S. Supreme Court held that “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family.”

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Kennedy added, “In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death.”

Though that decision represents one of the largest LGBTQ civil rights victories in American history, the community still has miles to go before achieving full equality.

Continuing Struggle

No where is the struggle to achieve full equality more evident than in states that have proposed – and in many cases passed – so-called ‘religious freedom’ bills following the Obergefell decision. Faced with the prospect of having to treat married same-sex couples equally, many states are targeting adoption access, spousal benefits, and other key rights associated with  marriage.

From Indiana’s discriminatory Religious Freedom Restoration Act to North Carolina’s transphobic HB 2, religious conservatives stepped up their game in the weeks and months following the Obergefell decision. And then last year – after Donald Trump became the Republican candidate for President – that movement quickened at an emboldened pace.

As the Trump administration rolls back existing protections for federal workers and students, the LGBTQ community must work harder now than ever.