USA: Supreme Court Officially Petitioned to Overturn Right to Same-Sex Marriage

As the United States becomes increasingly hostile to LGBTIQ+ people, a petition has formally been filed calling on the country’s Supreme Court to overturn its historic ruling that legalised same-sex marriage ten years ago.

The petition was filed by former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis. She made international headlines in 2015 when she was jailed for six days after defying the court’s ruling and refusing to issue a marriage licence to a same-sex couple, citing her religious beliefs.

Religious Freedom Argument

Davis became a poster figure for the so-called “religious freedom” movement. However, in 2022 she was found guilty of violating the rights of two couples by refusing their marriage licence requests. She was ordered to pay $100,000 in emotional damages and $260,000 in attorneys’ fees.

Davis is now asking the Supreme Court to reverse that decision, arguing that she should not be held personally liable for upholding what she claims are her constitutionally protected religious views and right to free speech.

She further contends that the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that established same-sex marriage as a constitutional right across the US was “egregiously wrong” and that “the mistake must be corrected”.

A Growing Right-Wing Campaign

While most legal experts believe the Supreme Court is unlikely to revisit Obergefell v. Hodges, Davis’s petition forms part of a growing religious right-wing effort to reverse marriage rights in the US, with several states supporting such a move.

Existing same-sex marriages are protected under the Respect for Marriage Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. While the Act does not itself guarantee the right to marry for same-sex couples, it requires the federal government and all US states to recognise same-sex and interracial marriages legally performed in any state where such unions are permitted.

The Supreme Court has shifted significantly to the right in recent years, leading to its shocking 2022 reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which had protected a pregnant woman’s right to choose an abortion.

At the time, concerns were raised that the court might also be willing to reconsider its decision on same-sex marriage.

Public Support in Decline

According to The Williams Institute, there are an estimated 823,000 married same-sex couples in the US.

Under the Trump administration and amid an increasingly divisive political climate, public support for marriage equality is showing signs of decline.

Gallup found that while support steadily increased to a peak of 71% in 2022 and 2023, it has since dropped to 68% in 2025 — a fall driven largely by a substantial decrease in support among Republicans.