In a major blow to media credibility, SCOTUS rules again to uphold gay marriage

On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari to review a lower court case that critics believe would have rolled back rights for same-sex married couples. The Court’s refusal to hear the case means an effort to discriminate against same-sex married couples in Indiana will be disallowed and the original meaning of Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 case that legalized gay marriage, is preserved.

The Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices appointed by President Donald Trump, denied without explanation to hear a case known as Box v. Henderson.

According to the legal blog Law & Crime, “Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill (R) took the position in Box v. Henderson that same-sex spouses should not have the same rights to be listed on state-issued birth certificates as opposite-sex spouses. The case arose as the result of several lesbian couples who conceived via artificial insemination; Indiana refused to list birth mothers’ wives on their children’s official birth certificates, but regularly listed birth mothers’ husbands on birth certificates without additional requirement.”

The same issue was raised in a 2017 Supreme Court case known as Pavan v. Smith in which the Court also sided with the same-sex parents.

“The Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari in Box v. Henderson means the Seventh Circuit’s decision stands. Advocates for LGBTQ+ rights have praised the Court’s denial not only for its practical implications, but also for its signal that the Court will uphold the Obergefell precedent,” reports Law & Crime.

RELATED: Why Same-Sex Marriage Will Never Be Overturned

This is counter to years of gay activists and mainstream media stoking baseless fears that Justices appointed by President Trump would attempt to chip away at same-sex marriage. Justice Neil Gorsuch–a Trump appointee–wrote the majority opinion in a 2020 case that made workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity illegal. The Box case marks the first time scare-mongering over Trump’s most recent appointee, Justice Amy Comey Barrett, who was confirmed to the Court in late October, was put to the test.

Opinion pieces in the New York Times called Barrett’s ascent “a threat to [LGBT] families like mine.” CNN ran the headline, “Why LGBTQ families like mine are scared and scrambling” regarding Barrett’s confirmation. NBC News, The Washington Post and dozens of mainstream media repeated verbatim the Democrat Party talking points that stoked fears of gay marriage annulment and family separations, or worse, for LGBTs under a conservative majority court ahead of Barrett’s confirmation.

“[Barrett’s] hostility towards many of society’s most marginalized, victimized and vulnerable groups raises serious concerns about her ability to be impartial and fairly consider the rights of all who come before the Court, including LGBTQ people,” the Democrat Party-alligned Human Rights Campaign said in a statement the day of Barrett’s confirmation.

Rather, as most legal scholars predicted, same-sex marriage isn’t going anywhere, regardless of who holds majority on the court. Even justices who felt Obergefell was decided poorly in the legal sense, realize to revoke same-sex marriage would lead to widespread chaos.

Stare decisis is the principle that courts give great weight to precedent. In no situation is that more important than in the matter of same-sex marriage because overturning Obergefell would invalidate many marriages and the families on which they are based. For that reason, Obergefell, as much as any decision in the Court’s history, should be considered settled law.

In her writings, Justice Barrett has referred to “superprecedents” that are simply too much of a foundation for our society to overturn. The American public would not see the resulting chaos as worth enduring. Support for same-sex marriage continues to rise steadily among Americans. According to Pew Research, support rose from 55% in 2015 to 62% in 2017. A Gallop poll this year showed acceptance of same-sex marriage matched the May 2018 all-time high of 67%.