(WASHINGTON) — 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 state 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 Day –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 face 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 echo similar sentiments about the merits of the Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which established the right to same-sex marriage under the equal protection clause and the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
Some legislators behind the resolutions argue that the legality of gay marriage should be left to states to decide, while others argue that marriage should be reserved for one man and one woman.
LGBTQ advocates and allies have criticized the efforts, arguing that the majority of Americans approve of same-sex marriage and say the efforts undermine “personal freedoms.”
A 2024 Gallup poll found that 69% of Americans continue to believe that marriage between same-sex couples should be legal, and 64% say gay or lesbian relations are morally acceptable.
In Michigan, state Rep. Josh Schriver unveiled his own anti-gay marriage resolution on Feb. 25, arguing that restrictions on gay marriage are important to “preserve and grow our human race,” he said at a press conference announcing the resolution.
“Michigan Christians follow Christ’s definition of marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman, an institution established to glorify God and produce children,” said Schriver.
In a press release, he added: “The new resolution urges the preservation of the sanctity of marriage and constitutional protections that ensure freedom of conscience for all Michigan residents.”
Local Democratic leaders denounced the resolution, arguing that it discriminates against the rights of LGBTQ Americans and distracts from more pressing issues facing Michigan residents.
“At a time when Michiganders are looking to their leaders to address pressing issues like lowering costs and protecting our economy, House Republicans are choosing to focus on undermining the personal freedoms of Michigan residents,” state Rep. Mike McFall said.
“This resolution is not only a blatant attempt to roll back the clock on civil rights, but it is also out of step with the values and priorities of our state.”
The Michigan resolution has been referred to the Committee on Government Operations and has not yet been put to a vote.
The handful of resolutions come after Associate Justice Clarence Thomas expressed interest in revisiting the Obergefell decision in his concurring opinion on the Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 decision on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that overturned the federal right to abortion.
He wrote: “In future cases, we should reconsider all of this court’s substantive due process precedents,” such as Obergefell. “Because any substantive due process decision is ‘demonstrably erroneous,’ we have a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents,” Thomas said.
Thomas had issued a dissenting opinion in 2015 against same-sex marriage equality.
More than two dozen states have some kind of restriction on same-sex marriage that could be triggered if the Supreme Court one day overturns its 2015 decision, according to legislative tracking group Movement Advancement Project. This is because marriage equality has not yet been codified and enshrined into law nationwide.
However, the Respect for Marriage Law signed by former President Joe Biden in 2022 guarantees the federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages in the event of an overturned Supreme Court decision.
It requires all states to recognize legally certified marriages, even if they were done in a state where it is later banned or done in another state entirely.
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