The United States Supreme Court has been formally asked to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide.
It’s a scary headline, but it’s also one that comes with a lot of conditions. There’s plenty of fear-mongering and misinformation surrounding this—and while there are valid concerns given the current state of U.S. politics—don’t freak out just yet.
The case was brought by Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who spent six days in jail in 2015 after refusing to issue marriage certificates to gay couples on religious grounds. In the petition filed to the Supreme Court, Davis’s attorney Mathew Staver argued that Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion in Obergefell was “legal fiction” at odds with the U.S. Constitution.
But just because the case has been filed doesn’t mean that it will be taken up by the court. Lower courts have previously dismissed Davis’s claims. And a federal appeals court panel has said that Davis can’t use the First Amendment as a defence since she is being held liable for state action—which isn’t protected by that.
If Obergefell does get overturned down the line, it would likely result in the legal status of gay marriage being decided on a state-by-state basis, similar to what we saw with Roe v. Wade. But there still would be some federal protections even in that event, like the Respect for Marriage Act.
The Supreme Court will consider the petition at the end of September, so we won’t know if the court will decide to officially hear it until October. We break down what we know about what might happen with Obergefell, and the number of hurdles in the way before it does.
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