Court Asked to Overturn Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

A federal court is being asked to overturn same-sex marriage by Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who refused marriage licenses to gay couples.

Davis became a conservative cause célèbre after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015. Through her lawyers, Davis is now arguing that the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision should be overturned on religious freedom grounds.

Same-sex marriage has been considered legal in the U.S. since the high court's Obergefell decision. It is considered a landmark LGBTQ rights case, and was decided in a 5 to 4 ruling in June 2015. The Supreme Court decision made it illegal for any state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories to deny a marriage certificate to same-sex couples, citing the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

Newsweek sought email comment from Davis' attorney on Wednesday.

Her challenge is an offshoot of a lawsuit taken by a gay couple who were refused a marriage license by Davis.

Davis is appealing a jury's 2023 decision that she should have to pay the couple $100,000 in damages.

In a highly publicized case, Davis had refused a marriage license to David Ermold and David Moore in 2015, arguing that to do so was compelling her to act against her religious beliefs.

In a new brief to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, her attorneys claim that "Obergefell … was wrong when it was decided and it is wrong today because it was based entirely on the 'legal fiction' of substantive due process, which lacks any basis in the Constitution."

The Sixth Circuit has not yet said if it will hear arguments in the case.

Davis is represented by the Florida-based conservative group, Liberty Counsel.

In August, 2015, an appeals court ruled that Davis must issue licenses to same-sex couples. Davis once again refused and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) requested she be held in contempt and fined.

Judge David Bunning agreed that Davis be held in contempt but opted to jail her rather than issue a fine, because he felt the punishment would not be strong enough and others were fundraising on her behalf. Davis spent six days in jail, during which time her deputy clerks began giving out marriage licenses that were altered to remove her name.

Some conservatives came to view Davis as a martyr for the religious freedom movement and she was visited by presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee.

Support for same-sex marriage is declining, especially among Republican voters, according to figures released in June.

While approval for same-sex marriage increased across political affiliations, figures from Gallup has shown a decrease over the past two years.

The majority of Americans still approve of it, with 69 percent saying same-sex marriages should be legal. The peak for national approval of gay marriage was 71 percent, in 2022.

Slightly fewer Americans believe that gay marriage is "morally acceptable," with 64 percent agreeing with the statement in 2024, suggesting that some Americans want same-sex marriage to be legal without personally liking the idea.

Democrats remain largely supportive of same-sex marriage, though their approval has slightly decreased. The Gallup poll shows that 83 percent of Democrats support same-sex marriage, which is a minor drop from highs of 87 percent in 2022.