ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of federalism in the struggle for marriage equality. It explores the legal strategy that ultimately led to marriage equality and the confounding range of relationship recognition laws and prohibitions that emerged during the two decades leading up to Windsor and Obergefell. It also provides an overview of both Windsor and Obergefell, with an emphasis on their corresponding visions of federalism. A brief conclusion closes with the observation that federalism has proven to be a pragmatic, but also imperfect, institutional choice for LGBT rights.
