The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to hear a case that sought to overturn marriage equality. It’s a win for love and for the children and families sheltered by that love. It doesn’t mean that the threats to marriage equality are over yet, however.
The court did not issue a reason for rejecting the case (PDF) of Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who had refused to grant a same-sex couple a marriage license in 2015, after the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision that made marriage equality national law. She didn’t heed a court order to do so, so the court awarded damages to the couple and ordered her to pay attorney’s fees. Her latest petition to the Supreme Court was an attempt to overturn that decision and marriage equality as a whole.
Mary Bonauto, senior director of civil rights and legal strategies at GLAD Law (and a lesbian mom herself), who argued Obergefell in 2015, said in a statement:
Ten years ago, the Supreme Court rightly recognized that equal protection requires access to legal marriage for same-sex couples on the same terms and conditions as others, and reaffirmed the long-established principle that people, not the government, should be able to decide who they marry. The only thing that has changed since Obergefell was decided is that people across the country have seen how marriage equality provides protection for families and children, and that protection strengthens communities, the economy and our society. Today millions of Americans can breathe a sigh of relief for their families, current or hoped for, because all families deserve equal rights under the law.
Indeed. The danger to marriage equality is not over yet, however; while all of the LGBTQ legal experts I’ve heard thought that Davis’s case was bound to fail, other efforts to attack marriage rights could be around the corner. As Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson (also a queer mom) said in a statement today, “Today, love won again…. Even so, we must remain vigilant. It’s no secret that there are many in power right now working to undermine our freedoms—including marriage equality—and attack the dignity of our community any chance they get.”
We must be prepared to fight off such attacks. As I’ve written before, LGBTQ parents were at the forefront of the battle to win marriage equality and we must be at the forefront of defending it. If you’d like to take further action:
- Consider sharing your marriage story or the story of why you support marriage equality with Family Equality’s “To Have and Hold” project.
- Reach out to your elected officials and share your stories as well.
- Be as visible as you safely can to keep increasing awareness and acceptance.
- Visit Why Marriage Matters, from a coalition of LGBTQ organizations, for stories, research, and poll data—or share the site with anyone you encounter who needs to know.
Importantly, too, we LGBTQ parents must take steps to protect our families and the legal security of our relationships to our children. I urge all of you to heed what Julie Gonen, federal policy director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), told me in 2022 after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision: “The most important thing LGBTQ parents can do to protect their families is to get a court order of adoption or parentage. That is essential, even for parents who are married and even for parents listed on a child’s birth certificate.”
- For more on how to secure your parentage, visit “LGBTQ Paths to Parentage Security,” a guide that GLAD Law and I created.
Today, though, take a moment to breathe and celebrate the victory. Marriage isn’t for everyone–but it should be an option for all.