Kim Davis Faces New Legal Showdown: What Today’s Court Ruling Means for Same-Sex Marriage Rights

Former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, whose 2015 refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples made national headlines, lost her latest legal battle today when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal challenging the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. The justices issued their denial without comment, leaving intact lower-court rulings that held Davis personally liable for $100,000 in damages owed to David Ermold and David Moore, one of the couples she turned away a decade ago. Davis had argued that forcing her to sign marriage licenses violated her First Amendment right to free exercise of religion, but federal courts repeatedly found that her official duties as an elected clerk outweighed her personal objections. Conservative advocacy groups had framed the appeal as an opportunity for the high court’s conservative majority to revisit Obergefell, but the justices’ refusal signals no appetite for reopening the ruling despite vocal criticism from some current members in prior writings. Legal experts note that today’s decision reinforces marriage equality as settled law and narrows the path for similar challenges rooted in religious-liberty claims. For LGBTQ+ advocates, the outcome represents a significant win at a time when several state legislatures are advancing measures viewed as hostile to queer rights. “The Court’s action affirms what we have long known: marriage equality is the law of the land, and no public official can selectively ignore the Constitution,” said Erin Ingram, legal director at the Human Rights Campaign, in a statement released shortly after the order was posted. Davis, who spent five days in jail in 2015 for contempt of court before her deputy clerks complied with a federal order to issue licenses, has remained a symbol for religious-freedom activists and is considering further legal options, according to her attorney. However, with the Supreme Court turning away the petition, observers say any future bid would have to start from square one and confront the same precedent that has now been left untouched for the third time in five years. Today’s announcement comes almost exactly ten years after Obergefell was argued, underscoring the durability of that decision amid shifting political winds. As campaigns for the 2026 midterms ramp up, marriage equality supporters are already highlighting the Court’s move as evidence that attempts to roll back LGBTQ+ rights in federal courts are unlikely to succeed.