Edited American Appellate Cases
Adjudicating Lesbian and Gay Rights Claims
Arranged by Court
United States Supreme Court
1986 Bowers v. Hardwick
1995 Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston
1996 Romer v. Evans
2000 Boy Scouts of America v. Dale
2003 Lawrence v. Texas
2015 Obergefell v. Hodges
2017 Pavan v. Smith
2018 Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
2020 Bostock v. Clayton County
See also: Is Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia a Homophobe?
United States Courts of Appeals
First Circuit
2012 Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services
Second Circuit
2000 Simonton v. Runyon
2001 Knight v. Connecticut Department of Public Health
Third Circuit
2000 Sterling v. Borough of Minersville
2009 Prowel v. Wise Business Forms, Inc.
Fourth Circuit
1981 Nemetz v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
1996 Thomasson v. Perry
Fifth Circuit
1981 Van Ooteghem v. Gray
1984 Gay Student Services v. Texas A&M University
1986 Joachim v. AT&T Information Systems
2011 Adar v. Smith
Sixth Circuit
1984 Brown v. Johnson
1987 Gay Inmates of Shelby County Jail v. Barksdale
1992 Dillon v. Frank
1997 Stemler v. City of Florence
2009 Patterson v. Hudson Area Schools
2012 Dixon v. University of Toledo
Seventh Circuit
1996 Nabozny v. Podlesny
2014 Baskin v. Bogan
2017 Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana
Ninth Circuit
1989 Watkins v. U.S. Army
1990 High Tech Gays v. Defense Indus. Sec. Clearance Office
2000 Hernandez-Montiel v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
2004 Peterson v. Hewlett-Packard Co.
2012 Perry v. Brown
Tenth Circuit
1984 National Gay Task Force v. Board of Education of the City of Oklahoma City
Eleventh Circuit
1997 Shahar v. Bowers
2004 Lofton v. Secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services
District of Columbia Circuit
1987 Padula v. Webster
1994 Steffan v. Perry
Alabama
Court of Civil Appeals
1997 J.B.F. v. J.M.F.
Supreme Court
1985 Logan v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.
1998 Ex Parte D.W.W.
Arkansas
Court of Appeals
1987 Thigpen v. Carpenter
Supreme Court
2006 Department of Human Services v. Howard
California
Court of Appeal
1983 Curran v. Mount Diablo Council of the Boy Scouts of America
1984 Rolon v. Kulwitzky
1985 Hinman v. Department of Personnel Administration
1987 Coon v. Joseph
1990 Curiale v. Reagan
1991 Soroka v. Dayton Hudson Corporation
1993 Engel v. Worthington
1995 Baluyut v. Superior Court
2000 People v. Garcia
Supreme Court
2005 K.M. v. E.G.
2008 In re Marriage Cases
2008 North Coast Women's Care Medical Group, Inc. v. Superior Court
Colorado
Court of Appeals
1991 Hayes v. Smith
1994 Ross v. Denver Department of Health and Hospitals
1995 Borquez v. Ozer
Connecticut
Supreme Court
2008 Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health
Delaware
Supreme Court
1993 Adoption of Swanson
Florida
District Court of Appeal
1997 Posik v. Layton
2010 Florida Department of Children and Families v. In re: Matter of Adoption of X.X.G. and N.R.G.
Supreme Court
1981 Florida Board of Bar Examiners Re: N.R.S.
Georgia
Court of Appeals
1985 Loring v. BellSouth Advertising & Publishing Corporation
Supreme Court
1995 City of Atlanta v. McKinney
1996 Christensen v. State
1997 City of Atlanta v. Morgan
1998 Powell v. State
Hawai’i
Supreme Court
1993 Baehr v. Lewin
Illinois
Appellate Court
Indiana
Court of Appeals
1991 R.E.G. v. L.M.G.
Iowa
Court of Appeals
2000 Marriage of Kraft
Kansas
Supreme Court
Kentucky
Court of Appeals
1997 Ireland v. Davis
Maine
Supreme Judicial Court
1982 State v. Lovely
Maryland
Court of Special Appeals
2000 Lapides v. Trabbic
Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court
1993 Adoption of Tammy
1999 E.N.O. v. L.M.M.
2003 Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
2004 Opinions of the Justices to the Senate
Michigan
Court of Appeals
Supreme Court
2008 National Pride at Work, Inc. v. Governor of Michigan
Minnesota
Court of Appeals
1991 Dignity Twin Cities v. Newman Center and Chapel
1994 Hanke v. Safari Hair Adventure
1998 Welfare of G.A.S.
2000 LaChapelle v. Mitten
Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis v. City of Minneapolis
Supreme Court
1986 Potter v. LaSalle Court Sports & Health Club
Mississippi
Court of Appeals
Supreme Court
1999 Plaxico v. Michael
Missouri
Court of Appeals
1987 Woy v. Woy
Nebraska
Supreme Court
1998 State v. Pattno
New Jersey
Superior Court, Appellate Division
1997 Rutgers Council of AAUP Chapters v. Rutgers, The State University
New Mexico
Court of Appeals
1988 State ex rel. Human Services Department
Supreme Court
2013 Elane Photography, LLC. v. Willock
New York
Supreme Court, Appellate Division
1993 Matter of Cooper
1998 Raum v. Restaurant Associates, Inc.
2012 Yonaty v. Mincolla
Court of Appeals
1983 People v. Uplinger
1984 Adoption of Robert Paul P.
1989 Braschi v. Stahl Associates Company
1994 Lloyd v. Grella
1995 Matter of Jacob
2001 Levin v. Yeshiva University
2016 In the Matter of Brooke S.B. v Elizabeth A.C.C.
North Carolina
Supreme Court
2010 Boseman v. Jarrell
North Dakota
Supreme Court
1981 Jacobson v. Jacobson
Ohio
Court of Appeals
1991 Gajovski v. Gajovski
1993 Seward v. Mentrup
1995 Greenwood v. Taft, Stettinius & Hollister
1999 State of Ohio Metroparks v. Lasher
Supreme Court
2002 State v. Thompson
2007 State v. Carswell
Oklahoma
Court of Criminal Appeals
1994 Allen v. State
Oregon
Court of Appeals
1995 deParrie v. City of Portland
1998 Tanner v. Oregon Health Sciences University
Pennsylvania
Superior Court
1984 De Santo v. Barnsley
1999 Mitchell v. Moore
Rhode Island
Supreme Court
2002 Doe v. Burkland
South Carolina
Court of Appeals
1987 Stroman v. Williams
South Dakota
Supreme Court
1992 Chicoine v. Chicoine
1998 Collins v. Faith School District
Texas
Court of Appeals
1993 City of Dallas v. England
1996 Evans v. May
2010 In the Matter of the Marriage of J.B. and H.B.
2011 In re Divorce of Naylor and Daly
Utah
Supreme Court
2007 Jones v. Barlow
Vermont
Supreme Court
1999 Baker v. State
Virginia
Court of Appeals
1996 Thomas v. Thomas
1998 Piatt v. Piatt
2006 Miller-Jenkins v. Miller-Jenkins
Supreme Court
1981 Doe v. Doe
1995 Bottoms v. Bottoms
Washington
Court of Appeals
2000 Vasquez v. Hawthorne
Supreme Court
Wisconsin
Court of Appeals
Supreme Court
1994 Angel Lace M. v. Terry M.
1995 Custody of H.S.H.-K.
2014 Appling v. Walker
Wyoming
Supreme Court