Supreme Court Asked to Overturn Marriage Equality as Michigan GOP Escalates Attacks

Jim Obergefell warned Pride Source readers it would happen, and now Kim Davis is asking the Supreme Court to destroy his legacy

Jim Obergefell in 2015. Photo: AP/BTL archives

Published: August 12, 2025 | Last Updated: August 20, 2025

A decade after the U.S. Supreme Court extended marriage rights to same-sex couples nationwide, the justices will consider this fall whether to take up a case that explicitly asks them to overturn that landmark decision. The petition comes from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for six days in 2015 after refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples on religious grounds.

In her appeal, Davis, who has been married four times, argues that the court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges was "egregiously wrong" and calls Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion "legal fiction." Her attorney claims the ruling must be "corrected," marking the first time since 2015 that the court has been formally asked to overturn the marriage equality decision.

For Jim Obergefell, whose name is forever linked to marriage equality through the case that changed history, the current threats cut deep. The weight of potentially losing what he and his late husband John Arthur fought so desperately for is almost unbearable. "I do not trust the Supreme Court," he told Pride Source earlier this year. "It isn't a question of if a case to overturn marriage equality will make it to the Supreme Court, but when."

Obergefell's journey with his late husband John Arthur, who died from ALS, exemplifies how love and desperation drove the marriage equality movement forward. Their story – racing against time and illness to secure legal recognition of their relationship – became a beacon of hope for countless families facing similar struggles.

"Marriage equality brought dignity, security and a sense of belonging to people across our nation," Obergefell wrote in a Pride Source op-ed marking the ninth anniversary of the Obergefell decision. He continued, reflecting on the profound impact of their fight: "A young woman once told me that, if it weren't for Obergefell v. Hodges, she would have committed suicide. She found a reason to keep living in that court decision, rather than end her life, and countless others undoubtedly found hope when before they had none."

But Obergefell's case didn't emerge in a vacuum. In Michigan, another couple had already been laying the groundwork for the historic victory that would change everything. In 2012, April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, a lesbian couple raising children together, initially sued the state for the right to jointly adopt their kids. When a federal judge suggested they broaden their challenge to include marriage itself, they took that leap of faith — a decision that would ultimately help topple marriage bans across the nation. Their case, DeBoer v. Snyder, became one of the four cases consolidated into Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015.

The profound impact of these personal stories cannot be overstated. Obergefell's case, along with the courage of couples like April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, transformed not just law but hearts and minds across America. "Over these nine years, hundreds of thousands of couples have married, and thousands of families have formed," he wrote in the op-ed. "Whether they want marriage or not, queer people see a future that includes them."

The importance of their fight resonates with devastating clarity when considering Michigan's painful history with marriage equality. Unlike many states that eventually embraced LGBTQ+ rights, Michigan didn't just resist them — it actively crushed hopes and dreams for decades.

Michigan’s current and historic opposition to marriage equality

Michigan's resistance to marriage equality runs deep, leaving scars on generations of LGBTQ+ families who were told their love didn't matter. In June 1995, the Michigan House of Representatives voted 88-14 to ban same-sex marriage in the state, while the Michigan State Senate voted 31-2 in favor. The same month, the House approved by a 74-28 vote a bill banning recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages. Gov. John Engler signed both bills into law, effectively erasing LGBTQ+ families from legal existence.

The cruelty escalated in 2004 when voters approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state with 59% of the vote. This wasn't just a rejection of marriage equality — it was a constitutional wall built specifically to ensure LGBTQ+ families could never find safety or recognition in their own state.

When marriage equality briefly flickered to life in Michigan following a federal court ruling in March 2014, the window of hope was heartbreakingly short. Only 323 same-sex couples managed to marry before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals slammed that window shut. Those couples faced months of agonizing uncertainty about whether their marriages would survive, their love reduced to a legal question mark until the federal government finally stepped in to validate what should never have been in doubt.

It wasn't until the Supreme Court's Obergefell decision in June 2015 that Michigan was forced to recognize marriage equality — a ruling the state had actively fought against.

Michigan Republicans' recent opposition to marriage equality continues this heartbreaking pattern of rejection and cruelty. Five Michigan House Republicans voted against the federal Respect for Marriage Act in 2022, which enshrines marriage equality in federal law and provides additional protections. This vote came after the conservative Supreme Court signaled that same-sex marriage could be targeted following the overturning of Roe v. Wade — a chilling reminder that hard-won rights can vanish overnight.

The most visible face of this hatred has been Rep. Josh Schriver, R-Oxford, whose relentless attacks on LGBTQ+ rights have escalated throughout 2025 with a viciousness that takes the breath away. In February, Schriver introduced a resolution urging the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell, using language so inflammatory it seemed designed to wound: targeting "gays, queers, transsexuals, polygamists and other perverts" and claiming they were advancing "attacks on our children."

That press conference became a defining moment when out state Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, refused to let such hatred go unchallenged. "This was just as buffoonish as I expected it to be," Moss told Pride Source after Schriver fled without taking questions. "I think that people respect their LGBTQ+ neighbors, their LGBTQ+ family members. These marriages have been the law of the land for 10 years. They contribute to family security. They contribute to economic security."

The attacks on LGBTQ+ rights have prompted fierce pushback from Michigan's Democratic leadership. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whose openly gay daughter has made these issues deeply personal for her, posted on Threads Aug. 11: "They are coming for our rights, one by one. I will not let bigots rip away rights from our LGBTQ+ community, including some of the people I love most in the world. Michigan will always be a place where everyone is free to love who they love and be who they are. That's just the way it's going to be."

Schriver's attacks have continued with a persistence that feels personal and cruel, with his recent introduction of HB 4751, which would strip sexual orientation and gender identity protections from the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act — attempting to erase the anti-discrimination protections that took advocates over 50 years to secure for LGBTQ+ Michiganders.

As threats to marriage equality mount nationally, advocates carry the emotional weight of knowing how quickly progress can be reversed. The fear is real, visceral and rooted in lived experience of loss. "It is foolish to believe the right to marry is safe, especially because the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 with their Dobbs decision," Obergefell warned in his op-ed. "This was the first time in our nation's history the court rescinded a right instead of affirming one. This court has turned its back on its bedrock principle of precedent because of personal attitudes, not law."

"We must do better as citizens of this nation. If we don't, I fear not only marriage equality but our democracy itself will come to an end," he continued.

While the current threats from the Supreme Court and conservative legislators are real and terrifying, Michigan's transformation from a state that actively crushed LGBTQ+ dreams to one that protects them offers a glimmer of hope in dark times. The question now is whether advocates can maintain the fierce determination needed to protect hard-won gains against an increasingly hostile conservative movement.