On Friday, the Supreme Court is scheduled to privately discuss a request to overturn the landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Among the cases up for consideration is a lengthy appeal filed by Kim Davis, a former Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following the court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, according to the AP.
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Davis sought to overturn a lower court ruling that ordered her to pay $360,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees to a couple to whom she refused to issue a marriage license.
The Supreme Court could announce its decision on hearing the case as early as Monday.
What did Davis’ lawyers say in the petition?
In their petition, Davis’ lawyers repeatedly cited Justice Clarence Thomas, the only justice who has openly called for overturning the landmark same-sex marriage decision, the AP reported.
Thomas was one of four dissenting justices in 2015. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito are the other dissenters who also remain on the court.
Roberts has remained silent on the issue since writing a dissenting opinion in the case. Alito has continued to criticize the decision, but recently said he is not advocating overturning it.
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Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was not on the court in 2015, said there are times when the court should correct mistakes and reverse a decision, as it did in a 2022 case that ended the constitutional right to abortion.
But Barrett recently suggested that same-sex marriage might be in a different category than abortion because people relied on the decision when they got married and had children.
Who is Kim Davis and why is she doing this now?
Kim Davis first gained national attention in 2015 when she defied federal court orders to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision.
Her rejection based on her religious beliefs has sparked a major clash between religious freedom advocates and LGBTQ+ rights advocates.
After repeated warnings, Davis was held in contempt of court and briefly jailed in September 2015. After her release, her office began issuing marriage licenses without her name—a compromise later formalized by the Kentucky Legislature, which removed the clerks’ names from all marriage licenses statewide.
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Nearly a decade later, Davis is now appealing a lower court ruling that ordered her to pay $360,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees to the couple she denied a license. In her Supreme Court lawsuit, Davis claims the Obergefell decision violated her constitutional right to freely practice her religion, according to a report by NBC Washington.
She defied court orders to issue licenses until a federal judge held her in contempt of court in September 2015.
She was fired after her staff issued licenses in her name but removed her name from the form. The Kentucky Legislature later passed a law that removed the names of all county clerks from state marriage licenses.
Davis lost a bid for re-election in 2018.
Here’s what an expert says
Dwayne Steward, executive director of the nonprofit Equality Ohio, said it’s routine for the Supreme Court to review such appeals, according to a SpectrumNews report, but that doesn’t worry the situation.
“The Supreme Court is reviewing her application, just like the thousands of applications that come before the Supreme Court, you know, of which a small number will go through,” Steward said, according to the report.
“This process is not unusual, but this moment is very disappointing and it creates a lot of very dangerous rhetoric, even though this case has little chance of moving forward.”
What does Donald Trump think about the LGBTQ+ community?
On January 20, 2025, the first day of the Trump Administration 2.0, an executive order titled “Protecting Women from Gender Ideology Extremism” was issued, declaring that there are only two sexes, male and female, fixed at conception.
The order also rolled back LGBTQ+ protections put in place during the Biden era and disbanded the White House Gender Policy Council.
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Trump further ordered agencies to replace “gender” with “sex” in all documents and forms. It bans funding for anything that promotes “gender ideology,” including the recognition of transgender people.
However, during the 2016 campaign and after the election, Trump said he would “strongly consider” appointing Supreme Court justices to oust Oberge, but days after his victory, he told CBS 60 Minutes, “It’s irrelevant because it’s already been settled. It’s the law. It’s been settled at the Supreme Court. I mean, it’s done, it’s OK with it being over and the Supreme Court being done.”
Trump’s stance on transgender policy
As of January 20, 2025, he has signed several executive orders (EOs) that implement many of the ideas from his 2024 campaign and overlap with Project 2025.
(With input from agencies)
