Supreme Court Rejects Bid To Overturn Same-Sex Marriage Ruling: What To Know

By Chris Spiker From Daily Voice

The Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge to the landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage across the US.

The justices quietly turned away the appeal from former Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk Kim Davis, according to a court filing on Monday, Nov. 10. The rejection effectively ends Davis' decade-long fight to overturn the Supreme Court's 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.

Davis was trying to reverse the Obergefell decision, which established the right of same-sex couples to marry nationwide. She also sought to cancel a lower court order requiring her to pay more than $360,000 in damages, The New York Times reported.

After the landmark Supreme Court decision, Davis drew national attention when she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing her religious beliefs as a conservative Christian. Her office denied licenses to several couples, including David Moore and David Ermold, who later sued and won their case in 2023.

After defying a court injunction to issue the licenses, Davis was found in contempt and spent six days in jail. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against her in March, citing precedent that public officials acting in their official capacity are not protected from liability by the First Amendment.

Despite the Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority, none of the justices joined Justice Clarence Thomas' earlier suggestion that Obergefell should be reconsidered, NBC News reported. Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, has also recently indicated he isn't seeking to revisit the marriage ruling.

According to a Gallup poll in May, 68% of Americans support same-sex marriage, a slight dip from the all-time high of 71% in 2023. Republican support has fallen in recent years, slipping from 55% in 2022 to 41% in 2025.

In 2022, Congress passed legislation requiring all states and the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages performed legally anywhere in the country.