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USA Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
What happens if gay marriage is overturned? The question alone is horrifying.
The more we talk about gay marriage as if it's something that could be questioned legally, the more the public will begin to question whether Obergefell was a mistake. A recent appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court seeks to overturn the landmark 2015 case Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, giving the entire LGBTQ+ community reason to be fearful – even if the case is unlikely to be heard by the court. Kim Davis, a former county clerk from Kentucky, filed a petition in late July asking the court to appeal a decision that she must pay $360,000 in damages and legal fees for refusing to issue a gay couple a marriage license after the Obergefell decision came down. According to the appeal, this infringed upon Davis' First Amendment right to freedom of religion. There are a variety of reasons gay marriage is likely safe despite this appeal, including changing opinions on the court, public support for same-sex marriage and the 2022 Respect For Marriage Act. It doesn't change the fact that the very notion of this right being overturned is a reminder to the LGBTQ+ community that our rights are dependent upon the whims of politicians and judges, and could easily disappear. I don't trust this Supreme Court to leave same-sex marriage alone In 2015, Davis wound up in jail for six days for contempt of court when she refused to grant a marriage license to gay couples in Rowan County, Kentucky. One couple who were refused a license, David Moore and David Ermold, sued Davis for violating their constitutional right to marry. Moore and Ermold were awarded $50,000 each in damages, plus $260,000 for legal fees. Davis attempted to appeal the ruling with the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals but was denied this March. She then sent her appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in July, which is how we ended up here. Mat Staver, Davis' lawyer, told Fox News he believes this case will be heard by the nation's highest court based on the fact that three of the dissenting justices from Obergefell – Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito – are still on the court. Other legal scholars aren't so sure that five justices are willing to overrule the case. Robbie Kaplan, a lawyer who argued in defense of LGBTQ+ rights in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 in a ruling that eventually paved the way for Obergefell, told Axios it would cause a lot more legal problems than it's worth. "It's not just a recipe for administrative chaos," Kaplan said. "It also would result in an almost indescribable amount of (needless) suffering and heartache." Opinion: I was the named 'opposition' in Obergefell v. Hodges. I've never been happier to lose. I'm skeptical that the very court that sent abortion rights back to the states cares about the legal complications that a ruling like this could cause. In the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, Thomas even issued a concurrent opinion saying he believed Obergefell should be reconsidered. The Supreme Court has also asked Moore and Ermold to respond to Davis' petition, which hints at the possibility that this case could be considered by the court. Kim Davis' petition reminds us our rights are revocable Davis' appeal isn't the only attack on gay marriage since President Donald Trump returned to the White House and Republicans took the majority in Congress. Resolutions were introduced in five states that would have formally asked the Supreme Court to review Obergefell. In two of those states, Idaho and North Dakota, the resolutions passed the House of Representatives before failing in the Senate. While these measures were unsuccessful, it's a sign of growing discontent among Republican politicians with the legality of same-sex marriage. In June, the Southern Baptist Convention voted for a resolution to ask the court to reconsider gay marriage. A denomination may have no legal authority in our secular government, but the resolution signals that we should be worried. Opinion: I told you GOP would come for marriage. Southern Baptists just proved my point. The fact that these resolutions were even introduced is scary for the LGBTQ+ community. It's a sign that there are still people out there who think we shouldn't be able to marry the people we love, that our rights as couples should differ from the rights of straight couples merely based on a few verses in the Bible. It's a reminder that the rights we fought for years to gain can be reversed, that all it takes is a conservative shift in government to send us back to a time before legal gay marriage. What would happen if gay marriage were overturned? Thankfully, Democrats in 2022 passed the Respect For Marriage Act, which says that same-sex and interracial marriages must be recognized by the federal government and every state, even if Obergefell were to fall. However, the loss of the 2015 Supreme Court ruling would affect future generations of LGBTQ+ people looking to get married. If the Obergefell ruling were overturned tomorrow, same-sex marriage would become illegal in 32 states that have constitutional and/or legislative bans on marriage equality. This would affect more than half of the LGBTQ+ people in the United States. Per a May 2025 Gallup poll, 68% of Americans say same-sex marriages should be legally recognized. While this is a safe majority of people, support is down from a high of 71% in 2023 – signaling a potential shift in the acceptability of gay marriage nationwide. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. I'm also not one to believe that public support will sway the justices from hearing a case. After all, abortion rights were also widely popular, but that didn't stop the court from sending legality back to the states. Gay marriage is not going to disappear tomorrow. This does mean, however, that gay people are once again being reminded that their rights are dependent on a handful of people and the opinions of politicians and can easily be stripped away. We've already witnessed how the trans community has lost rights in a matter of months. The more we talk about gay marriage as if it's something that could be questioned legally, the more the public will begin to question whether Obergefell was a mistake. Even if it seems unlikely that the Supreme Court will take up this review, the fact that an appeal was even introduced is bringing anxiety to the LGBTQ+ community – and it should be taken seriously. Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter: @sara__pequeno You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa Republican targets GOP Sen Joni Ernst for ouster, saying 'she doesn't vote like' Republicans
Former Iowa State Sen. Jim Carlin, who hopes to unseat U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, criticized the incumbent Republican's voting record during an interview with Fox News Digital last week. Carlin said Ernst "may be a Republican, but she doesn't vote like one," pointing to her 42% Heritage Action for America score, which is the figure the group awarded the lawmaker for the 118th congressional session. While Carlin only mentioned the 42% statistic, Ernst's lifetime score from the conservative group is 63%. Back in 2022, Ernst was one of the 12 Senate Republicans who voted with Democrats to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, which was ultimately signed into law by then-President Joe Biden. The law prohibits refusing to recognize another state's records "pertaining to a marriage between two individuals, on the basis of the sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin of those individuals." In a landmark 2015 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court demanded that states allow same-sex marriages and recognize those marriages from other states. Hundreds Of Billions In Over-budget Federal Projects Exposed, As Senate Doge Tries To Claw Money Back Carlin, who said he would not have voted for the 2022 measure, labeled Ernst a "Log Cabin hero," in an apparent reference to the Log Cabin Republicans. The group, which represents "LGBT conservatives and straight allies who support fairness, freedom, and equality for all Americans," according to its website, includes Ernst on a list of congressional allies. Ernst and several House Republicans participated in an event with the group's Washington, D.C., chapter in June. Read On The Fox News App If Ernst, who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2015, officially announces a re-election bid, Carlin's bid may be a long shot. Sen. Chuck Grassley trounced him in the 2022 GOP U.S. Senate primary in the state. Senate Republican Doge Leader Joni Ernst Faces First Democratic Challenger In 2026 Race "Good luck trying to take on this combat veteran. Senator Ernst has a proven record of conservative leadership—cutting waste, securing the border, and making Washington squeal to keep Iowans' hard-earned money in their own pockets," Ernst campaign manager Bryan Kraber said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "And she delivers for our families, farmers, and veterans. Iowans already saw through Carlin's last failed campaign, and they'll reject his desperate attempt at relevance again in 2026," he added. Carlin, who believes the national debt poses a "national security threat," according to his campaign website, called for auditing the Federal Reserve and even said that he would support abolishing it, suggesting to Fox News Digital that there either needs to be some accountability or the U.S. needs to look into eliminating it. Sen. Rand Paul Favors The Prospect Of Abolishing The Federal Reserve He floated the idea of a return to the gold standard. "We have to stop this free fall in the valuation of our currency," he said, calling it a "national security threat to us, as the world's reserve currency." Hawkeye State agriculture "needs to be weaned off of federal subsidies," he said, opining that the practice "is hurting it more than helping it." Carlin said he believes that "foreign aid is appropriate" in some cases, but that "it needs to be more measured than what it is … currently."Original article source: Iowa Republican targets GOP Sen Joni Ernst for ouster, saying 'she doesn't vote like' Republicans
