High five, U.S. Supreme Court

Image source: U.S. Supreme Court | Karissa Rosenfield

In the landmark United States v. Windsor, by a vote of five to four, the U.S. Supreme Court declared Section 3 of the controversial federal Defense of Marriage Act to be unconstitutional, granting same-sex couples the equal liberty guaranteed to them by the Fifth Amendment.

For same-sex couples who wished to be married, the State acted to give their lawful conduct a lawful status. This status is a far-reaching legal acknowledgment of the intimate relationship between two people, a relationship deemed by the State worthy of dignity in the community equal with all other marriages. It reflects both the community’s considered perspective on the historical roots of the institution of marriage and its evolving understanding of the meaning of equality. 

 Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy

A Letter from Harvard | 1961

On June 21, 1961, Phyllis Richman received the above letter (sans notation) from Harvard’s graduate program, asking how she intended to balance her “responsibilities” to her husband with her desired career in city planning.

52 years later, she responded.

Two years after Harvard's reply, Friedan's The Feminine Mystique called into question the very fabric of such assumptions and helped launch women into the quest for true equality.