The Supreme Court on Monday turned down appeals in seven cases where lower courts had voided state laws against same-sex marriage. The court order means gays may legally wed in Indiana, Oklahoma, Virginia, Wisconsin and Utah. Altogether now, gay marriage is legal in 24 states and the District of Columbia.

The latest wave of court cases follow a 2013 Supreme Court decision that a provision in the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which denied gay spouses the same federal benefits as straight couples, was unconstitutional. When the federal law passed in 1996, then Rep. Bernie Sanders was one of only 67 members of the House  who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act. Vermont holds a special place in the history of gay rights. It was the first state to introduce civil unions in  2000, and the first state where the Legislature passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage without being forced to do so by a court.