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Supreme Court asked to overturn 2015 same-sex marriage ruling
Jay Kaplan with the ACLU, says it’s unlikely the Supreme Court would decide to hear this particular case. But he says, marriage equality can’t be taken for granted.
FOX 2 - "The fact that we’re still fighting it is concerning and upsetting," said Amber, a digital producer at FOX 2,
The backstory:
She's talking about marriage equality. It’s one of the many topics she reports on, but for her and her family and friends - this is also personal.
"My wife and I got married last year – so obviously it’s very important to me that gay marriage is legal in Michigan," she said.
Back in 2004, Michigan voters passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage – but 10 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized it nationwide.
The Michigan couple involved in the SCOTUS case were finally able to legally marry and the Deboer-Rowse household was finally able to legally adopt their five children.
But now, Kim Davis, a former county clerk in Kentucky who was jailed for refusing to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple, wants the Supreme Court to overturn that 2015 ruling.
"Already the US Court of Appeals has rejected her claim that this violates freedom of religion," said Jay Kaplan, attorney. "We have separation of church and state and you can’t use your religious belief to violate the law, which is what she was doing by refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples."
Kaplan, with the ACLU, says it’s unlikely the Supreme Court would decide to hear this particular case.
But, he says, marriage equality can’t be taken for granted. After all, the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade – returning abortion laws to the individual states to decide.
"This is a conservative majority court – and I think there is a likelihood somewhere down the line that the court might revisit this marriage equality issue," Kaplan said.
If it was overturned, and the issue of same-sex marriage was returned to the states, same-sex couples in Michigan would have to go out of state to get married because of that 2004 constitutional amendment.
The Respect for Marriage Act means the federal government and all the states are required to recognize same-sex marriages.
"When you add all these things together, it just creates fear in general for the LGBTQ community," she said. "Your rights aren’t solid, they can change – that’s definitely scary, as somebody who is married in the community, is watching, (and) has friends in the community who aren’t married yet, or may never have the chance to get married if something like that changes."
The Source: Information for this report is from interviews with Jay Kaplan of the ACLU and Amber, a FOX 2 digital producer.