‘The Days of Obergefell are Numbered’ – SCOTUS Denies Challenge to Same-Sex Marriage
Nov 11, 2025 by FACT
In August, Liberty Counsel petitioned the US Supreme Court on behalf of Kim Davis, who served five days in jail in 2015 after refusing to sign her name to a gay couple’s marriage license in the wake of Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex “marriage” nationwide. In the 10 years since Oberegfell, legal scholars have emphasized that the ruling was a work of “legal fiction” in which a constitutional right was created out of thin air. Kim Davis’s case presented an opportunity to overturn the decision that has negatively impacted countless children and society at large. Unfortunately, earlier this week, the US Supreme Court declined to hear Kim’s case, ending her decade-long pursuit of justice.
Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver shared the following statement in light of the news:
This decision from the Court is devastating for Kim, who is now responsible for paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, and it’s discouraging for the conservative movement. But we agree with Mat Staver – dozens of challengers will now rise up against the injustice of same-sex “marriage” in place of Kim. Whether it’s children who were robbed of a normal childhood by having same-sex parents, government workers whose rights were violated, or a coalition of states that want the ability to decide marriage laws for themselves, we know this is not the end of challenges to Obergefell – it’s just the beginning.
And when the day comes that the US Supreme Court accepts a challenge to same-sex “marriage,” we rest assured that the Court’s conservative majority will rightfully rule that there is no constitutional right to same sex marriage.
In 2015, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas, and the late Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in a dissenting opinion against Obergefell, “Although the policy arguments for extending marriage to same-sex couples may be compelling, the legal arguments for requiring such an extension are not. The fundamental right to marry does not include a right to make a State change its definition of marriage. And a State’s decision to maintain the meaning of marriage that has persisted in every culture throughout human history can hardly be called irrational. In short, our Constitution does not enact any one theory of marriage. The people of a State are free to expand marriage to include same-sex couples, or to retain the historic definition.”
When given the proper opportunity, we believe conservative justices will once again hold the view expressed in Obergefell’s dissenting opinion – and now with the majority, those views will reestablish the preeminence of states in determining marriage laws.
We pray for the day Obergefell is no longer the law of the land. This battle may have been lost, but the war is not over.
Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver shared the following statement in light of the news:
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to deny the petition for certiorari in Davis v. Ermold is heartbreaking for Kim Davis and for religious freedom. Kim received the religious accommodation she desired to have her name removed from marriage licenses in three forms just months after the 2015 Obergefell opinion was handed down. This accommodation came from Democrat Gov. Steven Beshear in September 2015, from Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in December 2015, and from a bill unanimously passed by the state legislature in April 2016. Kim Davis received the simple accommodation she requested, and David Ermold and David Moore received a license. But they wanted Kim’s name on their license. When that did not happen, they continued this case as a vendetta against Kim to punish her for her Christian faith that marriage is between one man and one woman.
Government officials do not shed their constitutional rights upon election. The majority of Supreme Court Justices know Obergefell is wrong, and this case should have been granted review and reversed that unconstitutional opinion.
We are committed to overturning Obergefell. Like the abortion issue in Roe v. Wade, the Obergefell opinion has no basis in the U.S. Constitution. Marriage should have never been federalized. We have been and will continue working with state legislators and individuals to overturn Obergefell to return the marriage issue back to the states. It is not a matter of IF but WHEN Obergefell will be overturned. Kim Davis’ resolve will raise up many more challenges to this wrongly decided opinion. The day will come. The days of Obergefell are numbered.
Government officials do not shed their constitutional rights upon election. The majority of Supreme Court Justices know Obergefell is wrong, and this case should have been granted review and reversed that unconstitutional opinion.
We are committed to overturning Obergefell. Like the abortion issue in Roe v. Wade, the Obergefell opinion has no basis in the U.S. Constitution. Marriage should have never been federalized. We have been and will continue working with state legislators and individuals to overturn Obergefell to return the marriage issue back to the states. It is not a matter of IF but WHEN Obergefell will be overturned. Kim Davis’ resolve will raise up many more challenges to this wrongly decided opinion. The day will come. The days of Obergefell are numbered.
This decision from the Court is devastating for Kim, who is now responsible for paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, and it’s discouraging for the conservative movement. But we agree with Mat Staver – dozens of challengers will now rise up against the injustice of same-sex “marriage” in place of Kim. Whether it’s children who were robbed of a normal childhood by having same-sex parents, government workers whose rights were violated, or a coalition of states that want the ability to decide marriage laws for themselves, we know this is not the end of challenges to Obergefell – it’s just the beginning.
And when the day comes that the US Supreme Court accepts a challenge to same-sex “marriage,” we rest assured that the Court’s conservative majority will rightfully rule that there is no constitutional right to same sex marriage.
In 2015, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas, and the late Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in a dissenting opinion against Obergefell, “Although the policy arguments for extending marriage to same-sex couples may be compelling, the legal arguments for requiring such an extension are not. The fundamental right to marry does not include a right to make a State change its definition of marriage. And a State’s decision to maintain the meaning of marriage that has persisted in every culture throughout human history can hardly be called irrational. In short, our Constitution does not enact any one theory of marriage. The people of a State are free to expand marriage to include same-sex couples, or to retain the historic definition.”
When given the proper opportunity, we believe conservative justices will once again hold the view expressed in Obergefell’s dissenting opinion – and now with the majority, those views will reestablish the preeminence of states in determining marriage laws.
We pray for the day Obergefell is no longer the law of the land. This battle may have been lost, but the war is not over.
