marriage equality
Americannoun
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the state of having the same rights and responsibilities of marriage as others, regardless of one's sexual orientation or gender identity.
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legal recognition of the rights of marriage regardless of one's sexual orientation or gender identity.
If it becomes law, the bill would establish marriage equality for same-sex couples.
Etymology
Origin of marriage equality
First recorded in 1995–2000
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We’ve seen the advent of marriage equality, the #MeToo movement, the Black Lives Matter movement—there’s just been a lot of change afoot, and we’re seeing a real backlash to that.
From Slate ● Mar. 10, 2026
On Monday, the Supreme Court turned down a request to reconsider its landmark marriage equality case.
From Salon ● Nov. 11, 2025
Cheney announced that - although the final decision should be left to individual states - he was personally in favour of marriage equality.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2025
Just two years after the decision, Chief Justice John Roberts seems to have quietly joined a follow-up ruling affirming its protections for same-sex parents, suggesting that he had made his peace with marriage equality.
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2025
Others say those concerns sound strikingly similar to ones raised during the fight for marriage equality, when some argued that same-sex couples should settle for civil unions to avoid alienating religious moderates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2025
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
