On Wednesday, the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in a 5–4 ruling, a big step toward equality for LGBT families.  But now that part of the discriminatory law has been ruled unconstitutional, what does it mean for same-sex couples? Lambda Legal has a thorough guide to the legal ramifications of the ruling.

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional, paving the way for the federal recognition of same-sex marriages. In a separate 5-4 ruling, the court dismissed an appeal by opponents of marriage equality of a lower court decision that found California's Prop. 8 ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. The dismissal of the appeal means that same-sex couples in California can begin getting married again.

Last week, the AFL-CIO, along with the National Education Association (NEA) and Change to Win, filed amicus briefs challenging the constitutionality of California's Prop. 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Same sex couples do not have the same access to workplace and health care benefits and the AFL-CIO supports equal rights. 

The AFL-CIO today filed a “friend of the court" brief asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to uphold a lower court’s ruling that the so-called Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. The 1996 law denies federal benefits to same-sex couples. In the brief, filed along with Change to Win (CTW) and the National Education Association (NEA), the three union groups say:

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), by intention and design, ensures that workers with same-sex spouses earn less money, are taxed more on their wages and benefits, and have available to them fewer valuable benefits and less economic security than their counterparts with different-sex spouses.