For thousands of years, most cultures around the world have recognized marriage as a union between men and women. In the majority of modern nations, including the United States, same-sex couples cannot be legally married. Several gay couples unsuccessfully filed lawsuits in the latter half of the twentieth century against various states for not allowing them to marry. However, same-sex marriages were never considered possible in the United States until three same-sex couples challenged Hawaii's marriage law on the grounds that it discriminated against them based on their sex.

In response to the suit, Hawaiian health director John C. Lewin, who was responsible for issuing marriage licenses, filed a motion for dismissal. He argued that Hawaiian law recognizes marriage only as "a union between a man and a woman"; that the state's marriage laws do not "burden, penalize, infringe, or interfere in any way with the [plaintiffs'] private...