PACE (People Acting for Change and Equality), Northwest Louisiana’s primary advocacy organization for the LGBTQ+ community, is watching closely to see if the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) will revisit Obergefell v. Hodges, which ten years ago recognized a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. The Kentucky county clerk, Kim Davis, an Apostolic Christian who back in 2015 refused to issue a marriage license to a gay couple on religious grounds, has asked SCOTUS to revisit (four votes required) and then overturn Obergefell (five votes required). Such a ruling would lead to chaos and go against the beliefs of a majority of Americans.

The overturning of Obergefell would create a chaotic situation in which gay couples (and even possibly interracial couples) could be legally married in some states but not in others. It would go against the views of a majority of Americans: a May 2025 Gallup poll found that 68% of Americans (88% of Democrats, 76% of Independents, and 41% of Republicans) supported same-sex marriage, while 29% opposed it. The nonprofit, nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute’s (PRRI) 2024 Values Atlas survey found that a majority in every state support same-sex marriage.

While Kim Davis’s challenge to Obergefell is based on her religious views, PRRI found that majorities of most religious groups favor same-sex marriage, except for Hispanic Protestants, white evangelical Protestants, Muslims, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. In addition, PRRI found that a majority of members of most religious groups oppose religiously based service refusals, which is the basis of Kim Davis’s challenge. So overturning Obergefell would violate the principles of most religious groups.

It’s important to note, however, that regardless of civil law, no religious group has been forced to marry gay couples; that decision is left completely up to religious groups themselves. Of course, basing public policy on individuals’ religious beliefs would lead to a multitude of complications and inconsistencies since these beliefs vary widely among different religious groups, and even within religious groups. The best example of this is Kim Davis herself: while opposing marriage for gay couples on religious grounds, she has been married four times and conceived twins with the man who became her third husband while married to her first husband. Ironically, Davis herself should be the biggest opponent of using an individual’s or group’s religious beliefs to determine civil law.

PACE strongly believes that marriage serves a civilized society well as a stabilizing force, in that married people are generally happier, healthier, and wealthier. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority in Obergefell: “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.” To deny gay couples this recognition intentionally stigmatizes their relationships and their families. As Justice Kennedy continued: “They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”