This paper will cover the same-sex marriage movement, considering the position of the gay community in American society and how their culture and mobilization is challenging the hegemonic heterosexual marriage group. To some members of society, the same-sex marriage movement is today's civil rights issue because of the many rights and privileges granted through marriage. Little specific research has been conducted on the same-sex marriage movement. Researching this issue may enable us to see the patterns and trends, thereby predicting directions the movement should focus on. It may also reveal further knowledge of power structures between the heterosexual community and the gay community. By tracing the passage of 56 various state and federal initiatives concerning same-sex marriage and landmark court rulings, along with public opinion about same-sex marriage tracked over time by the Gallup Poll, I will argue the amount of initiatives and court rulings are related to an overall positive growth in public opinion toward gay marriage. Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony will be used to explain gays' and lesbians' position in society and why they do not have these rights currently. The paper will involve a discussion of how hegemony affects the law and therefore the law upholds heterosexual marriage. It will also involve a discussion of how the hegemonic group has used policy to support heterosexual marriage while court cases have attempted to bring a new hegemony. I will use historical evidence, state initiatives, court rulings and previous research and literature to show the struggles and victories of the same-sex marriage movement. This will be a quantitative paper based on review and analysis, as well as sociological theory.