Prior to the 2015 United States Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage throughout the country, the legal status of marriage equality varied drastically among the states and territories. Amid rising uncertainty about the Court’s willingness to uphold precedent related to civil rights and privacy, understanding this history is becoming increasingly important.

A state-by-state breakdown from NCLR details how each state and U.S. territory viewed LGBT marriage, domestic partnership, and civil unions until the landmark 2015 decision, as well as legal developments among Native American Tribal Nations up to the year 2020.