1976-1978: Zablocki v. Redhail

In 1976, a lesbian couple is arrested and actually jailed for protesting, after being denied a license in Illinois.

In 1977, California adopts a DOMA.

In 1978, a same-sex couple is denied a license in Mississippi.

And the US Supreme Court issues a decision in Zablocki v. Redhail.

The right to marry is fundamental and protected by the 14^th Amendment

Remember the name “Zablocki”? He’s the Milwaukee County Clerk who was sued in 1971 by the female couple Berkett and Evans. He finds himself back in court seven years later, this time defending Wisconsin’s law that says that men behind in their child support payments can’t be issued a license to marry.

The Supreme Court overrules that, saying that even deadbeat dads have a right to marry and emphasizing the general applicability of the Loving decision:

Although Loving arose in the context of racial discrimination, prior and subsequent decisions of this Court confirm that the right to marry is of fundamental importance for all individuals. …[T]he right to marry is part of the fundamental 'right of privacy' implicit in the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.

Timeline key: progress (green), no progress (red), pending court cases (purple),
events that are neutral, not directly related, or with both positive and negative effects (black)

1976-1978: Zablocki v. Redhail

The right to marry is fundamental and protected by the 14th Amendment

The right to marry is fundamental and protected by the 14^th Amendment