Eleven years after Obergefell v. Hodges: West Michigan residents worry about reversal
More than 10 years after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case guaranteed the fundamental right to marry for same-sex couples, some Michigan families and organizations worry about the possibility of the ruling being overturned — similar to what occurred with Roe v. Wade in 2022.
GRAND RAPIDS — More than 10 years after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case guaranteed the fundamental right to marry for same-sex couples, some Michigan families and organizations worry about the possibility of the ruling being overturned — similar to what occurred with Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“I fear for my friends that are married,” said Shea Smith, founder of Protest for Progress, a Grand Rapids organization advocating for equal rights. “We (the United States) are starting to roll back, and that's a really scary thing for the queer community.”
Smith told ONN that she knows of friends who have gotten married quickly in fear of the precedent being overturned, especially in places like Utah, where if Obergefell v. Hodges were to be overturned, pre-existing bans would be reinstated.
“We have a lot of organizations (in Michigan) that provide a safe place for people to get married really quick,” explained Smith.
As for Michigan and same-sex marriage, if Obergefell v. Hodges were to be overturned, the state would revert back to its 2004 state constitutional amendment that defines marriage exclusively as a union between a man and a woman.
It is unclear if a reversal would void existing same-sex marriages.
Smith said the current law should stand.
“It's how it should be,” she said.
Prior to Obergefell, same-sex marriage was temporarily legal for a day in Michigan on March 22, 2014, after U.S District Court Judge Bernard Friedman ruled that the state’s 2004 constitutional ban on same-sex marriage violated the equal protection and due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution.
Four county clerks opened their doors after the March 21 2024, ruling — Ingham, Muskegon, Oakland and Washtenaw — and issued licenses.
It was a race against time, as then-Attorney General Bill Schuette requested that the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issue an emergency stay that would put a stop to more same-sex weddings, which the court granted.
By then, more than 300 weddings had already taken place.
The case would later be rolled into the Obergefell v. Hodges case, which arrived before the Supreme Court in 2015.
The 5-4 decision struck down state-level bans in states like Michigan and allowed for marriage equality in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia.
— Mallory Burt is a reporter for Ottawa News Network. Contact her at newsroom@ottawanewsnetwork.org.
