US: Supreme Court petitioned to overturn landmark same-sex marriage ruling

10 years after the Supreme Court’s historic decision in Obergefell v. Hodges legalised same-sex marriage nationwide, the justices are being asked to reconsider and overturn that ruling.

The challenge comes from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who was briefly jailed in 2015 for refusing to issue marriage licenses to a same-sex couple based on her religious beliefs.

Davis is appealing a $100,000 jury award for emotional damages and $260,000 in attorneys’ fees.

In a petition filed last month, Davis argues that the First Amendment’s protection for religious exercise shields her from personal liability. She also says the court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges — which extended marriage rights to same-sex couples under the 14th Amendment — was “egregiously wrong.”

“The mistake must be corrected,” wrote her attorney, Mathew Staver, calling Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion in Obergefell “legal fiction.”

This appears to be the first formal request since 2015 for the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell. Davis is considered one of the few people with legal standing to bring such a challenge. “If there ever was a case of exceptional importance,” Staver wrote, “the first individual in the Republic’s history who was jailed for following her religious convictions regarding the historic definition of marriage, this should be it.”

Lower courts have rejected Davis’ arguments. Earlier this year, a federal appeals court ruled that she “cannot raise the First Amendment as a defense because she is being held liable for state action, which the First Amendment does not protect.” At the time, Davis was the only official in Rowan County authorised to issue marriage licenses under state law.

“Not a single judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals showed any interest in Davis’s rehearing petition, and we are confident the Supreme Court will likewise agree that Davis’s arguments do not merit further attention,” said William Powell, attorney for David Ermold and David Moore, the now-married couple who sued her.

Davis’ appeal comes amid renewed efforts from some conservatives to roll back marriage rights and let states set their own policies. In 2015, 35 states had laws or constitutional provisions banning same-sex marriage, while only eight explicitly allowed it.

So far in 2025, at least nine states have introduced measures aimed at stopping new marriage licenses for LGBTQ couples or passed resolutions urging the court to overturn Obergefell, according to Lambda Legal. In June, the Southern Baptist Convention voted to make reversing such rulings “a top priority.”

Public support for same-sex marriage remains high but has plateaued. Gallup polling shows 60% support in 2015, rising to 70% in 2025, with a decline among Republicans from 55% in 2021 to 41% this year.

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