Marriage Equality on the rocks

Overturning marriage equality is now a present threat. Many of the issues both POC and LGBTQI+ Americans confront in Trump's first term - health care, unemployment, housing, immigration, voting rights, among others -are front and center, again, and on the chopping block. And the fear is palpable. "I think it's going to go away. I don't know what's going to happen to those already married, but there are a lot of benefits ," Pat of West Palm Beach, Florida, told me. "What would that be? A forced divorce?"

Put a ring on it

With this threat looming large, many LGBTQ+ couples are dashing to the altar. The thought of many more former Kentucky county clerks like Kim Davis becomes a nightmare. Davis is infamously known for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2015, and this August, she formally petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn "Obergefell v. Hodges."

"I told a nephew who's gay, young, 22, to get married last year because we don't know," Pat said. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed the same sentiment. On the "Raging Moderates" podcast in August, Clinton strongly advised couples to get married before SCOTUS overturns it. "Anybody in a committed relationship out there, in the LGBTQ community, you ought to consider getting married," she said, "because I don't think they'll undo existing marriages, but I fear they will undo the national right."

Clarence Thomas's goal

In a Trumped-up Supreme Court, SCOTUS has been his enabler. Justice Clarence Thomas faulted the Supreme Court for refusing to block marriage equality in Alabama twice - in 2015 and in 2022. Targeting marriage equality has been his goal since its passage.

Shortly after the SCOTUS overturned "Roe v. Wade" in the "Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization" case in 2022, Clarence Thomas seized the moment to insert his opinion stating "[W]e have a duty to 'correct the error' established in those precedents. " Clarence further stated that the landmark decision "should reconsider" its past rulings codifying the rights to contraception, same-gender intimacy, and marriage equality. Surely, he jests, I thought, because of Thomas's interracial marriage, which marriage equality is built upon. Moreover, the slippery slope is one he, too, could confront, once SCOTUS eliminates federal protection for loving who you choose. The irony here is that many of the civil rights gains that ascended Thomas to the highest court in the land, he now wants to dismantle.

Last year, the country celebrated 9 years since the "Obergefell v. Hodges" decision, allowing us LGBTQ+ Americans the fundamental right to marry nationwide. However, while Justices Thomas and Alito dissented in Obergefell in 2015, the broad public support that both parties once embraced has now waned among Republicans,

According to the Gallup Poll, in 2025, support for marriage equality among Democrats rose to 88%. Republicans' support, which peaked at 55% in 2021 and 2022, has dropped to 41%, the lowest point since 2016, following the Obergefell decision. With Republicans dominating all branches of government, there is concern whether Biden's "Respect for Marriage Act", signed into law in 2022, would be upheld, instead of marriage equality being thrown to the states. Trump appointed 234 federal judges during his first term. Lambda Legal found that about 40% of his appeals court appointees had records of anti-LGBTQ+ bias, and they will remain on the bench long after he's gone. LGBTQ+ Americans in Red States especially have concerns.

Benefits up in the air

There are 1,138 federal benefits and hundreds of state-specific benefits that heterosexual couples take for granted. Denying these benefits will cause financial instability and immense stress. "Being a widow, all the federal benefits have benefited me," Pat stated. "I'm on spousal Social Security and not paying taxes on our joint money, is that going to go away? "

Jim Obergefell, not an activist of any sort, never expected to be a cause célèbre. But when he sued his home state of Ohio for refusing to recognize him as the widower of his deceased spouse, the lawsuit made its way to the highest court.. Jim Obergefell, then 48, the lead plaintiff in the four marriage equality cases collectively known as "Obergefell v. Hodge," is now hanging in the balance once again.

With victory comes backlash.

Ratifying marriage equality was the right thing to do and should not be repealed. Obergefell's victory expanded the nation's understanding of marriage as a fundamental right awarded to all people. However, if Roe v. Wade can be overturned after fifty years, so too can marriage equality, highlighting that no one's rights can be taken for granted.

Sherry's a married lesbian tired professor of nursing stated ,"I'm aware now that what we take as a right is always conditional. "

Sadly, that's true. I have married over 250 LGBTQ+ couples since 2004, when it was legalized in Massachusetts, to the present day. Each one was an honor to officiate. When interviewed for Massachusetts' 20th anniversary of marriage equality, a newsman asked to see my photos; I have hundreds of them. I had to sort them into three piles: deceased, divorced, and still together. However, I never imagined the day would come when I would have to stop.