Story at a glance
- The landmark 2015 Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry.
- Voters in Nevada repealed a 2002 amendment stating that marriage between a male and female is the only type of marriage recognized by the state.
- Some Americans are concerned that opponents of same-sex marriage will try to repeal the SCOTUS decision.
Five years after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, Nevada’s state constitution will finally reflect the ruling of the highest judicial authority in the country.
A little more than 60 percent of voters opted to repeal a 2002 amendment stating that marriage between a male and female is the only type of marriage recognized by the state, according to results reported by the New York Times. The measure simultaneously approved the “Marriage Regardless of Gender Amendment,” which officially protects same-sex marriage in the state’s constitution.
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“The State of Nevada and its political subdivisions shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender,” reads the amendment, which also requires that legally valid marriages be treated equally under the law. The amendment also takes steps to protect religious organizations or members of clergy for refusing to “solemnize,” or perform, a marriage.
The 2015 Supreme Court ruling held that the 14th Amendment requires states to license and recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex. At the time, same-sex marriage was legal by law, court ruling or voter initiative in 36 states and the nation’s capital, but some of the remaining states were slow to comply.
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While support for same-sex marriage is at a record high in the United States, according to a Gallup poll, some LGBTQ+ advocates are concerned about the newest justice’s past opposition to the Court’s decision. In 2015, Amy Coney Barrett, who is Catholic, signed a letter to Catholic bishops including a statement about “marriage and family founded on the indissoluble commitment of a man and a woman” — suggesting her personal opinion mirrors that of the Catholic Church, which does not recognize same-sex marriages.
But during her confirmation hearings, she asserted that she had never and would never discriminate on the basis of “sexual preference.” While she refused to answer whether she agreed with the decision, Barrett suggested that a legal challenge was not likely to reach the Supreme Court.
Still, Nevada’s amendment offers extra protection to LGBTQ+ couples who choose to marry in the state, which is now the first to do so in its constitution.
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