The United States Supreme Court on Monday declined to reconsider its precedent recognizing the constitutional right to gay marriage.
The court, without comment, rejected a bid by Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county official, to overturn the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which allows same-sex couples to marry.
Davis asked the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court order requiring him to pay $360,000 in damages and attorney fees to a couple whose marriage license he had denied because of their religious beliefs.
Precedent-setting decision legalizes gay marriage
LGBTQ+ activists became concerned after the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned its Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing abortion rights, signaling an openness to revisiting precedents. Justice Clarence Thomas later urged reconsideration of Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized gay marriage nationwide.
In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in the case Obergefell v. Hodges that states cannot ban gay marriage because the U.S. Constitution guarantees equal protection and due process.
William Powell, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said, “This is a victory for gay couples everywhere who have built their families and lives around the right to marry.”
Matt Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, the conservative Christian legal group representing Davis, called Monday’s decision heartbreaking but vowed to continue efforts to overturn the Obergefell precedent.
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko