Freedom to Marry

The ACLU and ACLU of North Carolina won a 2014 lawsuit on behalf of three married, same-sex couples seeking state recognition of their marriages.

Case Name: Gerber and Berlin v. Cooper

After filing the first challenge to North Carolina's ban on marriage for same-sex couples in 2013, the ACLU and ACLU of North Carolina filed a second lawsuit, Gerber and Berlin v. Cooper, in 2014 on behalf of three married, same-sex couples seeking state recognition of their marriages and asked the court to take swift action because of the serious medical condition of one member of each couple.

On October 14, 2014, U.S. District Court Judge William Osteen issued a ruling in the case that found North Carolina's marriage ban unconstitutional.