Idaho GOP Urges Supreme Court to Overturn Gay Marriage
A proposed resolution would strongly urge the Supreme Court to overturn its decision and allow states to once again ban same-sex marriage.
Idaho Republicans are pushing for a resolution urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its 2015 ruling legalizing marriage equality nationwide.
An Idaho House of Representatives committee will consider a measure from State Rep. Heather Scott (R-Blanchard) that declares the high court’s ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges an “illegitimate overreach.”
Scott’s resolution asks the court to reinstate the “natural definition of marriage,” limiting the practice to heterosexual couples only.
For a decade, conservatives have bemoaned the court’s decision, which struck down state-level bans on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. They complain that the court imposed a one-size-fits-all approach that promotes a particular ideological view of marriage.
“The purpose of this resolution is just to affirm our state authority to regulate marriage,” Scott said at a hearing on January 7. The committee moved Scott’s resolution forward, meaning it will receive a public hearing at a future date, reports the Idaho Statesman.
If ultimately approved, the resolution would be sent to the Supreme Court. However, the resolution is symbolic, and wouldn’t carry any legal weight or require the Supreme Court to reverse its ruling.
However, other ongoing legal fights, such as one involving former Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis, in which the outspoken opponent of marriage equality has sought to avoid fines stemming from her refusal to permit same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses, could eventually make their way to the high court.
Davis’ lawyers, with the right-wing legal firm Liberty Counsel, have said it is their intention to appeal the case up to the Supreme Court and demand that the court overturn the Obergefell decision.
At least two sitting Supreme Court justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, have previously advocated for the high court to reconsider its decision in the Obergefell case.
Alarmed by the confirmations of three Trump-appointed judges to the Supreme Court since the decision was issued — as well as the court’s willingness to reverse precedent in an abortion rights case — liberals have pushed for the federal government to protect the right of same-sex couples to marry.
That push ultimately resulted in a Democratic-controlled Congress passing the Respect for Marriage Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022.
Under the law, which would become enforceable should Obergefell be overturned, both the federal government and individual states — regardless of whether they have same-sex marriage bans — would be required to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages legally performed in states without those prohibitions.
Idaho Democrats have largely dismissed the resolution as a “sad distraction” from more important issues.
“This is yet another example of the extreme wing of the Republican Party ginning up divisive social issues in order to create problems where none exist,” House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) and Senate Minority Leader Melissa Winstrow (D-Boise) said in a statement. “Big government has no business telling consenting adults who they should love.
“This resolution may be a helpful gimmick for winning in closed GOP primaries, but it should be offensive to all Idahoans who value their individual rights and freedoms and just want to live their lives without egregious government interference.”
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