One year ago today,

I stood on the marble steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, excited about what was about to transpire and hopeful about what we would accomplish. We had filed our case against California’s Prop. 8 four years earlier, and making our case before the nation’s highest court was the culmination of our work to that point.

Here’s what it was like that fateful day:

The result of our case for marriage equality affirmed what we knew to be true. In the court of law, where facts and truth are all that matter, there is no defense for denying gay and lesbian Americans the freedom to marry the person they love.

Because of AFER’s case, marriage equality returned to the nation’s most populous state.

The case also helped transform the way our country thinks, feels and talks about marriage equality. Public support nationwide has skyrocketed from 42 percent when we filed the case to an impressive 59 percent today. The Obama Administration, 131 prominent Republicans, over 100 major corporations, and thensome joined in support of our case. Marriage for gay and lesbian couples is no longer seen as a partisan issue; it’s a constitutional right that should not be denied any American.

Now, there is marriage equality or an active court case for marriage equality in all but five states.  For AFER, our work continues in the state that was once home to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and the home of the landmark case that put an end to bans on interracial marriage, Loving v. Virginia.

Battles are won because we fight them. Together, we made our case for marriage equality to the Supreme Court one year ago. Soon, we’ll return to those marble steps, excited about what will transpire and hopeful about what we will accomplish: full marriage equality in all 50 states.

Sincerely,

Adam D. Umhoefer

Executive Director
American Foundation for Equal Rights