Gay marriage in idaho
Idaho Republican legislators notify on SCOTUS to reverse same-sex marriage ruling
The Idaho Property passed a resolution Monday calling on the Supreme Court to reconsider its 2015 decision on same-sex marriage equality.
The court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision established the right to same-sex marriage under the equal protection clause and the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
The resolution comes after Associate Justice Clarence Thomas’s expressed interest in revisiting the Obergefell conclusion in his concurring opinion on the Supreme Court's landmark 2022 opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Corporation that overturned the federal right to abortion.
Thomas, who issued a dissenting perspective in 2015 against same-sex marriage, wrote in 2022, "In future cases, we should reconsider all of this court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. Because any substantive due process judgment is 'demonstrably erroneous,' we have a duty to 'correct the error' established in those precedents."
Lawrence v. Texas overturned a law criminalizing same-sex sexual manner and Griswold v. Connecticut o
Ballot initiatives protecting marriage equality advancing in some states
An increasing number of states are taking steps to enshrine protections for same-sex marriage in their constitutions following a victorious round of ballot initiatives in the 2024 elections.
Voters in Hawaii, Colorado and California all voted last year to support ballot initiatives that changed their state constitutions to give same-sex couples the right to marry. But now, the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage is being actively targeted by some conservative lawmakers. The Idaho House passed a resolution in belated January by a vote of 46-24 calling on the Supreme Court to reconsider its past marriage equality decision.
The Idaho resolution comes after Associate Justice Clarence Thomas expressed interest in revisiting the Obergefell v. Hodges same-sex marriage decision, should a future related court case arise, in his concurring belief on the court's landmark 2022 ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturned the federal right to abortion. He argued that any past "substantive due process decision is 'demonstrably erroneous'"
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The Freedom to Marry in Idaho
Winning Marriage: October 15, 2014
Same-sex couples began marrying in Idaho on October 15, 2014 after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a previous ruling by U.S. Chief Magistrate Candy W. Dale in favor of the freedom to wed in a federal legal case challenging the state’s anti-marriage laws. The 9th Circuit ruling followed the United States Supreme Court’s October 6, 2014 decision to deny review of pro-marriage orders from three other federal appellate courts.
History and the Path to Victory:
- January 1, 1996: A express statute passed by the Idaho Legislature takes effect, restricting marriage to different-sex couples.
- March 18, 1996: Idaho Governor Phil Batt signs into law a measure that denies respect in Idaho to any marriage performed between queer couples in other jurisdictions.
- November 7, 2006: Opponents of the autonomy to marry in Idaho propel through Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment denying same-sex couples the freedom to marry and any other legal family status. The amendment cements clearly discriminatory language into the Idaho Constitution.
- 2007-2014: As American