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Despite concerns the conservative-shifted Supreme Court might revisit and overturn the 2015 Obergefell decision, the Court declined to hear a challenge to same-sex marriage and left the ruling intact. It describes the certiorari process—requiring four justices to agree to hear a case—and notes Justice Clarence Thomas’s Dobbs concurrence urging reconsideration of related precedents. Ron Meyers highlights in his article how the Court’s composition has changed since Obergefell and observes that, even with several conservative appointees, the justices did not secure the votes to reopen the issue. It concludes that while Obergefell could be revisited by a future Court, the current refusal signals the matter is treated as settled for now.

Part 2 of 2 of a discussion on the upcoming change of administration raises real concerns about LGBT rights, and particularly about the right to same-sex marriage (SSM). Marriage is fundamentally controlled by state law, but two important Supreme Court decisions have enshrined the rights of same sex married couples in all states, and in federal law.

Ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade a few weeks ago, questions have arisen about many other rights that have been established by the Supreme Court over the past fifty years, because of legal reasoning that may be similar to the principles that were overturned in this new decision.