Gay rights being overturned
A Republican lawmaker in Oklahoma has filed a resolution calling for the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark decision that established the nationwide right to same-sex marriage.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 8, authored and sponsored by state Senator Dusty Deevers, was introduced on May 1.
Newsweek has contacted Deevers for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in , ending the constitutional right to an abortion, there have been concerns that the nation's top court could also perform away with other rights, including the right to same-sex marriage.
Conservative lawmakers in several states, including Idaho and Montana, have introduced various measures encouraging the court to overturn Obergefell. Two conservative Supreme Court justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, who both dissented in Obergefell, hold suggested that the judgment should be reconsidered.
What To Know
The resolution states the decision in Obergefell "conflicts with the original universal meaning of the Combined States Constitution, the principles upon which the Combined States is established, and the deeply rooted history
Obergefell v. Hodges is the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide by declaring it a constitutional right. In recent years, some conservative U.S. states have launched efforts to overturn or undermine this landmark decision. Below, we break down which states are principal the charge, what motivates them, the legal arguments they&#;re using, the status of these attempts, and what could happen if the Supreme Court revisits or overturns Obergefell.
Lawmakers in Idaho, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota have introduced formal resolutions urging the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges and allow states to reinstate bans on same-sex marriage. These resolutions do not carry legal weight, but they attend as political statements to pressure the courts and rally support for repealing marriage equality.
- Idahos House of Representatives passed a resolution by a vote of , calling on the Court to &#;restore the natural definition of marriage&#; as between a gentleman and a woman.
- North Dakotas House approved a similar resolution, passing , explicitly calling for Obergefell to be reversed.
- Michigans legislature i
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 , Justice Clarence Thomas has said he would love to "reconsider" that verdict 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 commandment to Roe vs. Wade, which legalized the right to an abortion nationwide, was overturned in
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 from publ
Some Republican lawmakers increase calls against gay marriage SCOTUS ruling
Conservative legislators are increasingly speaking out against the Supreme Court’s landmark verdict 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 verdict -- which the court cannot do unless presented with a case on the issue. Some Republican lawmakers in at least four other states appreciate Michigan, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota own followed suit with calls to the Supreme Court.
In North Dakota, the resolution passed the state Residence with a vote of and is headed to the Senate. In South Dakota, the state’s Property Judiciary Committee sent the proposal on the 41st Legislative Day –deferring the bill to the ultimate 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 face legislative scrutiny.
Resolutions have no legal power and are not binding law, but instead approve legislative bodies to communicate their collective opinions.
The resolutions in four other states echo similar s
.