LGBT Civil Rights and Activism

Justice Clarence Thomas, one of the most conservative members of the court, has called for the overturning of Obergefell. He did so in his concurring opinion when the court overturned Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling. For Obergefell to be reversed, it would take a marriage equality case getting to the Supreme Court, and none is on its way right now, but it’s still a concern.

The U.S. Constitution grants the states — not Congress — the power to determine who may marry in that state, subject to federal constitutional requirements including equal protection of the laws. In the Respect for Marriage Act, Congress is doing all that it can do to buttress the portions of the Obergefell and Windsor rulings that fall within its purview.


Congress is taking decisive, bipartisan action to repeal this offensive language and ensure that even if Loving, Windsor and Obergefell were overturned that the federal government would not itself engage in discrimination again.”


Under the Respect for Marriage Act, “if Obergefell or Loving were to fall, and some states decided to no longer marry same-sex or interracial couples, the federal government would continue to recognize marriages legally entered into in other states,” the organization explains.