Former county clerk asks Supreme Court to overturn same-sex marriage rights in US

Former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2015 due to her religious beliefs, has asked the Supreme Court to overturn equal marriage rights in the US. 

On Thursday (24 July), Davis asked the court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark 2015 case which ruled that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right. The law has allowed over 800,000 LGBTQ+ couples to marry in the US since it became legal 10 years ago. 

Her appeal, in part, concerns the compensation she was ordered to pay a couple after she denied them a marriage license, and also asks the high court to overturn the 2015 ruling. 

Mat Staver, who heads up conservative legal group Liberty Counsel and represents Davis, said in a statement that Obergefell v. Hodges “punishes individuals for their beliefs about marriage”. 

“The High Court now has the opportunity to finally overturn this egregious opinion from 2015,” Staver said. 

Mary Bonauto, a senior director at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, told USA Today regarding the case: “There’s good reason for the Supreme Court to deny review in this case rather than unsettle something so positive for couples, children, families, and the larger society as marriage equality.”

In 2015, Davis was briefly jailed over her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She argued at the time that issuing the licenses would violate her born-again Christian beliefs and “God’s definition of marriage”. 

David Ermold and David Moore took the former Rowan County clerk to court in 2015 after she declined to issue the couple a marriage license. Three years later, David lost her bid for re-election as a county clerk. 

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• Nov 29 2023

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