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12h ago

A Decade After Obergefell, Same-Sex Marriage Faces New Legal Threats

Legal, judicial pressures have cast fresh doubts over the stability of marriage equality despite broad public support.

Demonstrators stand in front of a rainbow flag of the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, April 28, 2015. The Supreme Court is set to hear historic arguments in cases that could make same-sex marriage the law of the land. The justices are meeting Tuesday to offer the first public indication of where they stand in the dispute over whether states can continue defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman, or whether the Constitution gives gay and lesbian couples the right to marry.
In this June 26, 2015 file photo, a man holds a US and a rainbow flag outside the Supreme Court in Washington after the court legalized gay marriage nationwide.
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 26: Plaintiff Jim Obergefell holds a photo of his late husband John Arthur as he speaks to members of the media after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling regarding same-sex marriage June 26, 2015 outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC. The high court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry in all 50 states. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Overview

  • State legislatures in at least nine states have filed bills to challenge same-sex marriage rights, with five of those measures explicitly urging the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell.
  • Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have publicly signaled openness to revisiting marriage equality following the Dobbs decision.
  • The Respect for Marriage Act guarantees federal recognition of existing same-sex marriages and obligates states to respect them but does not require states to issue new marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
  • Gallup polling shows that about 68 percent of Americans support legal same-sex marriage, although GOP backing has fallen since 2022.
  • Anti-LGBTQ+ organizations outspend pro-LGBTQ+ advocates by more than three to one as the number of married same-sex couples has more than doubled to roughly 823,000 over the past decade.