<Li> Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan, 458 U.S. 718 (1982) the single - sex admissions policy of the Mississippi University for Women violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment . </Li> <Li> J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel . T.B., 511 U.S. 127 (1994) Prosecutors may not use peremptory challenges to dismiss jurors based on their sex . </Li> <Li> United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996) Sex - based "separate but equal" military training facilities violate the Equal Protection Clause . </Li> <Ul> <Li> Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986) A Georgia law that criminalizes certain acts of private sexual conduct between homosexual persons does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment (overruled by Lawrence v. Texas (2003)). </Li> <Li> Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996) A Colorado state constitutional amendment that prevents homosexuals and bisexuals from being able to obtain protections under the law is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment . </Li> <Li> Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) A Texas law that criminalizes consensual same - sex sexual conduct furthers no legitimate state interest and violates homosexuals' right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment . This decision invalidates all of the remaining sodomy laws in the United States . </Li> <Li> Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, 440 Mass . 309 (2003) The denial of marriage licenses to same - sex couples violates provisions of the state constitution guaranteeing individual liberty and equality and is not rationally related to a legitimate state interest . This was the first state court decision in which same - sex couples won the right to marry . </Li> <Li> United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. ___ (2013) Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines--for federal law purposes--the terms "marriage" and "spouse" to apply only to marriages between one man and one woman, is a deprivation of the equal liberty of the person protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment . The federal government must recognize same - sex marriages that have been approved by the states . </Li> <Li> SmithKline Beecham Corporation v. Abbott Laboratories, 740 F. 3d 471 (9th Cir. 2014) Using peremptory challenges to strike potential jurors because of their sexual orientation violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution as applied by the U.S. Supreme Court 1986 ruling in Batson v. Kentucky . First time holding by a United States Court of Appeals that classifications based upon sexual orientation must be subjected to heightened scrutiny . </Li> <Li> Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015) The Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out - of - state . </Li> </Ul>

Group whose court cases helped to expand the parameters of religious freedom