The United States Supreme Court has officially been asked to hear a case that could overturn the legalisation of same-sex marriage. There is no guarantee that the court will decide to add the case to its docket, and legal experts have gone as far as to say it’s unlikely the justices will pick it up. 

The lawsuit, which is the first of its kind to challenge the landmark 2015 decision Obergefell v. Hodges that enshrined marriage equality, is being brought forth by former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis. Davis refused to issue a marriage license to a gay couple who subsequently sued for damages and won. After failing to find a court that would hear her case on the lower circuit, Davis, who was jailed for six days following her defiance of Obergefell, appealed to the Supreme Court last month for the second time, after being denied in 2020.

“Not a single judge on the US 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 plaintiffs David Ermold and David Moore, in a statement to ABC News.

Additionally, ABC reported that a federal appeals court panel found Davis, who is arguing that issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples infringed on her religious freedom, “cannot raise the First Amendment as a defence because she is being held liable for state action, which the First Amendment does not protect.”

Although support for marriage equality has plateaued nationally in the US at around 70%, support among Republicans has declined from 55% to 41% according to a Gallup poll. 

Among the vocal opponents of the legalisation of same-sex marriage is Justice Clarence Thomas, who dissented Obergefell at the time and called for a revisiting of the decision after overturning Roe v. Wade and the right to abortion in 2022.

The Supreme Court will not deliberate on whether or not they will hear Davis’ case until late autumn, and even if they do, same-sex marriage in the US will remain protected under national law until a decision is reached.

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