How Grassroots Activism Paved the Way for Marriage Equality Before Obergefell

The podcast episode explores how door-to-door canvassing and local lobbying by marriage-equality activists in the early 2000s built public support that later helped the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision.

Episode three of Slate’s "By the People" series delves into the early, often unsuccessful, grassroots work that set the stage for the 2015 Obergefell ruling on marriage equality. Marc Solomon, a key architect of the campaign, recounts how activists in 2001 relied on door-to-door canvassing and persistent lobbying of receptive legislators, despite losing many local battles. This bottom-up effort gradually shifted attitudes among families and neighbors, helping to frame constitutional guarantees of liberty and equality as applicable to same-sex couples.

Hosts Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern use the story to question the durability of popular constitutionalism, pointing out that the same public pressure that secured Obergefell also contributed to the 2008 D.C. v. Heller decision affirming an individual right to bear arms. They argue that no constitutional win, however widely supported, is permanent. The episode serves as a case study for ordinary citizens seeking to influence constitutional meaning outside the Supreme Court. Additional resources and a subscription option for ad-free access are mentioned at the end.