Over turning gay marriage
A decade after the U.S. legalized gay marriage, Jim Obergefell says the brawl isn't over
Over the past several months, Republican lawmakers in at least 10 states have introduced measures aimed at undermining lgbtq+ marriage rights. These measures, many of which were crafted with the support of the anti-marriage equality group MassResistance, seek to ask the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell.
MassResistance told NBC News that while these proposals confront backlash and wouldn’t modify policy even if passed, keeping opposition to homosexual marriage in the universal eye is a defeat for them. The collective said it believes marriage laws should be left to states, and they question the constitutional basis of the 5-to-4 Dobbs ruling.
NBC News reached out to the authors of these state measures, but they either declined an interview or did not respond.
“Marriage is a right, and it shouldn’t depend on where you live,” Obergefell said. “Why is queer marriage any different than interracial marriage or any other marriage?”
Obergefell’s journey to becoming a leader for same-sex marriage rights began with his own love story. In 2013, after his loved one, John Arthur, was diagnosed with terminal
The New Gay Marriage Bill
This week, Roger Severino, Heritage’s Vice President of Domestic Policy and The Anderlik Fellow, breaks down the so called “Respect for Marriage Act.”
Michelle Cordero: From The Heritage Foundation, I'm Michelle Cordero, and this is Heritage Explains.
Cordero: This summer in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Congress introduced the Respect For Marriage Act.
Speaker 2: As abortion rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers continue to protest the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Residence is voting on a bill to protect marriage equality, out of dread the conservative high court could revisit other landmark decisions.
Speaker 3: It simply says each state will recognize the other state's marriages and not reject a person the right to marry based on race, gender, sexual orientation.
Cordero: The legislation passed the House with the back of 47 Republicans. It now moves to the Senate where it would need just 10 Republican votes to pass.
Cordero: Final passage would mean states are no longer allowed to define and acknowledge marriage as a legal union between a bloke and a woman. Instead, they
At a convention for Southern Baptist church members in early June, delegates endorsed legislation calling for a ban on same-sex marriage and urged legislators to support them in this goal.
Although same-sex marriage is currently protected in all 50 states due to the ruling in Obergefell vs. Hodges in 2015, Justice Clarence Thomas has said he would appreciate to "reconsider" that decision if a similar case were ever to before the court again.
He also said he would be open to reconsidering Lawrence vs. Texas which legalized gay sex, and Griswold vs. Connecticut which legalized access to contraception, as these cases were built on similar case regulation to Roe vs. Wade, which legalized the right to an abortion nationwide, was overturned in 2022.
Why It Matters
The Southern Baptist church is the U.S.' largest protestant denomination, and their endorsement of political causes has sway with GOP politicians, as they are a consistent Republican-voting base. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is one of the country's most powerful Southern Baptists.
This call to eliminate queer marriage comes amid an existing push from President Donald Trump's administration to remove transgender people
Some Republican lawmakers increase calls against gay marriage SCOTUS ruling
Conservative legislators are increasingly speaking out against the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 ruling on same-sex marriage equality.
Idaho legislators began the trend in January when the state House and Senate passed a resolution calling on the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision -- which the court cannot do unless presented with a case on the issue. Some Republican lawmakers in at least four other states like Michigan, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota have followed suit with calls to the Supreme Court.
In North Dakota, the resolution passed the declare House with a vote of 52-40 and is headed to the Senate. In South Dakota, the state’s House Judiciary Committee sent the proposal on the 41st Legislative Time –deferring the bill to the final day of a legislative session, when it will no longer be considered, and effectively killing the bill.
In Montana and Michigan, the bills have yet to deal with legislative scrutiny.
Resolutions have no legal authority and are not binding law, but instead allow legislative bodies to express their collective opinions.
The resolutions in four other states ech
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