Same-sex marriage ruling from 2015 is suddenly at risk and people have one worrying question about what will happen
A whole decade after the United States extended marriage rights to same-sex couples nationwide in 2015, the Supreme Court has now been met with a case that explicitly asks them to overturn that decision.
Kim Davis, a Kentucky ex-county clerk who was imprisoned for six days in 2015 for refusing to issue marriage licenses to a same-sex couple on the grounds of religion, is now appealing a $100,000 jury verdict for emotional damages, plus $260,000 for attorneys' fees.
In her official petition, Davis cited the First Amendment, which protects Americans' free exercise of religion, claiming this legislation immunises her from personal liability for the denial of marriage licenses.
Davis also claims the high court's decision in Obergefell v Hodges - extending marriage rights for same-sex couples under the 14th Amendment's due process protections - was 'egregiously wrong'.
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"The mistake must be corrected," Davis' attorney, Mathew Staver, wrote in the petition in which he also called Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion in Obergefell 'legal fiction'.
Davis' petition is historical as it appears to mark the first time since 2015 that the court has been formally asked to overturn the landmark marriage decision, with the former clerk seen as one of the only Americans currently with legal standing to bring a challenge to the precedent.
"If there ever was a case of exceptional importance," Staver added, "the first individual in the Republic's history who was jailed for following her religious convictions regarding the historic definition of marriage, this should be it."
Upon catching light of the news, people in the LGBTQ+ community and beyond are understandably worried about what this could mean, with many rushing to social media to ask what would happen to existing same-sex marriages if the ruling does end up getting overturned.
One person asked: "Would this nullify existing marriages???"
And another worried: "We also have an adopted daughter. How does a forced dissolution of our marriage affect her? Will this completely obliterate our family?"
"I don’t think that existing marriages would be annulled, but I don’t know," said Kermit Roosevelt, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. "I’m not sure there’s a historical precedent for how existing marriages get treated in such cases."
According to another legal expert, Ilya Somin, a George Mason University law professor, at the very least, states 'would be able, if they want, to bar people from entering into new same-sex marriages,' even if existing marriages were grandfathered.
"They could also give same-sex marriages fewer or different benefits from those granted to opposite-sex marriages."
For example, University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias says, same-sex couples might be denied rights to property and inheritance, adoption, and advance health directives.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]
Topics: LGBTQ, Politics, Sex and Relationships, US News
Rhiannon Ingle