Supreme Court Keeps Same-Sex Marriage Alive, Rejects Overturn Appeal

LGBTQ+ advocates like Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson celebrated the justices’ decision to leave the ruling as is.

The Supreme Court is standing with America’s LGBTQ+ community by rejecting an appeal to overturn the historic 2015 ruling that makes same-sex legal, NBC News reports.

The high court rejected the appeal on Nov. 10 from Kim Davis, the former Rowan County, Kentucky, court clerk who made headlines after refusing to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples even after the ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges without any comments.

Her appeal was brought on 10 years later with potential consideration after the court overturned the landmark abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Long-standing conservative Justice Clarence Thomas suggested in his Roe opinion that Obergefell and the decisions of other cases should be revisited due to cause for concern. Davis’ legal team, conservative group Liberty Counsel, used Thomas’ words in their cause for appeal, according to HuffPost, however, overturning the case wasn’t the main objective in the appeal.

Liberty Counsel argued Davis should have a religious right not to put her name on same-sex marriage licenses since she is a conservative Christian who doesn’t believe in the practice.

The initial civil rights lawsuit was filed by David Moore and David Ermold, the couple who Davis turned away. Even after a judge ordered her to issue the license, she refused, resulting in the judge holding her in contempt and having to sit behind bars for six days. The controversy resulted in the state changing the law, permitting licenses to be issued without the clerk’s name on it. However, the couple continued to press the suit, winning $100,000 in damages and Davis being required to pay $260,000 in attorney’s fees.

Davis reached the Supreme Court after losing an an appeal at the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March, continuing to cite religion as her sole defense.

LGBTQ+ advocates like Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson celebrated the justices’ decision to leave the ruling as is. In a statement, Robinson said the court made it clear that people must respect the constitutional rights of others.

Religious rights have been used as a defense in several major cases expanding the opportunity for people to seek exemptions from objectionable laws due to faith. Alongside Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justice Samuel Alito are the other dissenters of Obergefell v. Hodges who still sit on the bench today.

While Roberts has been quiet, Alito has continued his critique but announced he wouldn’t advocate for the ruling to be overturned.

One of the court’s newest faces, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, said while the court should right some of its alleged wrongs, with abortion rights being listed as one of them, same-sex marriage may be different since people have leaned on the decision when they married and had children.