https://www.newsweek.com/push-supreme-c ... es-2036390Push for Supreme Court to Overturn Gay Marriage in Multiple States
Lawmakers in multiple states have introduced measures surging the Supreme Court to strike down Obergefell vs. Hodges, the landmark 2015 decision that established the nationwide right to same-sex marriage.
Why It Matters
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022, ending the constitutional right to an abortion, there have been concerns that the nation's highest court could also remove other rights, including the right to same-sex marriage.
What To Know
Obergefell was decided by a 5-4 vote, but President Donald Trump appointed three justices in his first term that have cemented the court's 6-3 conservative majority. Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two conservative justices who dissented from the decision in Obergefell, have suggestedthe decision should be reconsidered.
Last month, the Republican-controlled Idaho House of Representatives voted to pass a resolution that calls on the court to undo Obergefell. But experts have told Newsweek that the court can revisit the decision only if there is a case where the issue of same-sex marriage is raised.
Polling by Gallup shows that a majority of Americans continue to believe marriage between same-sex couples should be legal (69 percent), though it found a wide partisan gap, with 83 percent of Democrats in support compared to just 46 percent of Republicans.
Demonstrators rally outside Supreme Court
A rainbow flag outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington D.C. on October 8, 2019. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Michigan State Representative Josh Schriver, a Republican who was elected in 2022 and has previously spoken out against same-sex marriage, introduced a resolution on Tuesday that condemns the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell.
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Schriver had earlier said on social media that the resolution would urge the court to overturn Obergefell, but the text of it says only that it condemns the decision as being "at odds with the Constitution of the United States and the principles upon which the United States is established."
Newsweek has contacted Shriver for comment via email.
Resolutions explicitly calling for the Supreme Court to reverse the decision in Obergefell have been introduced in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, as well as in Idaho.
North Dakota's resolution, which urges the court to "restore the definition of marriage to a union between one man and one woman," passed in a 52-40 vote on Monday.
The Idaho House of Representatives passed its resolution in a 46-24 vote in January.
What People Are Saying
Michigan State Representative Josh Shriver wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in December: "Make gay marriage illegal again. This is not remotely controversial, nor extreme."
Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, a Republican, told reporters of Schriver's resolution: "It's an issue that's very divisive in our caucus. Many of our caucus members don't feel the way that Representative Schriver does."
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said in a video posted on X on Tuesday: "In Michigan, everyone has the freedom to marry who they love. It's not only the law of the land, it's a non-negotiable.
"Right now, however, some extreme members of the Michigan Legislature are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn marriage equality. Here's my response to that: 'Hell no.'
"We've fought a long, hard fight to win marriage equality and we will always protect our family, our friends and neighbors from hateful attacks."
Idaho State Representative Heather Scott, a Republican, who sponsored Idaho's measure, has said that same-sex marriage "is not a decision for the judges, it is a decision for the states."
Idaho House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, a Democrat, previously told Newsweek: "The Supreme Court wisely recognized in the Obergefell decision that our Constitution guarantees the freedom to marry the person you love, and that fundamental right should not be subject to the anti-LGBTQ biases of a state legislature.
"The partner you choose is not the government's choice nor should it be. GOP politicians must get out of the business of persecuting their own citizens."
What's Next
The resolutions calling for Obergefell to be overturned need to be passed by both chambers of state legislatures before they can be sent to the Supreme Court.
However, experts previously told Newsweek the court will only revisit the decision if a case that specifically raises the issue of same-sex marriage is brought before it.
"If a state sought to go further—to pass or enforce a law that limited marriage to opposite-sex couples, in clear violation of Obergefell—a challenge to that law could quickly make its way to the Supreme Court," Kate Shaw, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and constitutional law scholar, told Newsweek.
Whether that will happen remains to be seen.
