Republican legislators in Idaho’s House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution this week, urging the Supreme Court to overturn marriage equality in the U.S.
Introduced earlier this month by state Rep. Heather Scott (R), House Joint Memorial 1 states that Idaho’s legislature “rejects” the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges and calls upon the court to reverse its decision “and restore the natural definition of marriage, a union of one man and one woman.”
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On Monday, January 27, the Idaho House adopted the resolution in a 46–24 vote.
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The resolution describes the Obergefell decision, which established the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry in all 50 states, as “an illegitimate overreach” based on “a novel, flawed interpretation of key clauses within the Constitution and our nation’s legal and cultural precedents.”
At a hearing earlier this month, Scott said that the resolution’s purpose “is just to affirm our state authority to regulate marriage.” And indeed, as the ACLU of Idaho noted in an January 8 X post blasting the move, the measure is not a law and carries no legal weight.
While the resolution does not change or create law, the group wrote, it does “express values and signal priorities — in this case, singling out LGBTQ+ people for separate and unequal treatment.”
The ACLU of Idaho added that it would not tolerate attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and urged Idaho voters to let their representatives know they oppose the resolution.
Here are the facts regarding the anti-LGBTQ memorial proposed by Idaho lawmakers yesterday. Make no mistake, we will not tolerate attacks on the LGBTQ+ community. pic.twitter.com/pcTPCRpjkH
If approved by the state’s Senate, House Joint Memorial 1 will be delivered to SCOTUS. The court’s current conservative majority has, in recent years, shown a willingness to overturn decades old legal precedent, as it did in 2022 when it overruled Roe v. Wade. Both Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito have called on the court to reconsider Obergefell.
If the Court were to overturn Obergefell, state laws banning same-sex marriage that remain on the books would go into effect. However, the Respect for Marriage Act – signed by President Joe Biden in 2022 – would still require the federal government and all U.S. states to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where same-sex marriage is legal.
As Jezebel reports, right-wing activist group MassResistance drafted the resolution’s text and says it has been working with state legislators across the country to introduce similar resolutions during their 2025 sessions. According to the anti-LGBTQ+ group, lawmakers in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, and North Dakota are “poised” to file their own versions, and Mississippi and Wyoming may soon follow. Mass Resistance says they are also “working closely with people” in Alabama, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Arkansas, New Hampshire, and West Virginia.
As Advocate notes, right-wing opposition to marriage equality is out of step with public opinion. Last year, Gallup released polling data that showed a majority of Americans, including 74 percent of independent voters and 46 percent of Republicans, support the right of same-sex couples to legally marry.
“Extremist attacks have become de rigueur, and LGBTQ+ Americans are right to be concerned about their escalation,” Sarah Warbelow, the Human Rights Campaign’s vice president for legal affairs said, according to The Advocate. “This cruel action by Idaho Republicans amounts to nothing more than shouting at the wind.”
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