The 5-4 ruling of United States v. Edith Windsor made the federal government to legally derecognize married gay men and lesbian women.

The ruling in United States v. Edith Windsor actually struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented legally married same-sex couples from accessing federal benefits. The ruling made it unconstitutional for the federal government to so narrowly define marriage and recognized legally married same-sex couples for the purposes of federal law.