Carlos McKnight of Washington, waves a flag in support of gay marriage outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday June 26, 2015.
Republicans in Idaho’s House of Representatives are considering making a formal statement imploring the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its famous 2015 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
The measure proposed by Republican state Rep. Heather Scott frames the court decision as an “illegitimate overreach.” Scott’s measure asks the court to bring back the “natural definition of marriage,” even though different forms of marriage (including same-sex unions) have existed throughout human history.
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“The purpose of this resolution is just to affirm our state authority to regulate marriage,” she said at a Tuesday hearing.
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The 2015 Supreme Court ruling, Obergefell v. Hodges, came after decades of activism from the LGBTQ+ community to legalize same-sex marriage. When the ruling was implemented, many states still banned gay marriage, in spite of growing support for such unions.
The decision, implemented on a 5-4 vote, came before three additional conservative justices were appointed during the term of then-President and now-President-elect Donald Trump. The justices appointed by Trump include Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Scott’s resolution has no legal weight, though it would be sent to the Supreme Court for consideration. The committee moved it forward on Tuesday, with a public hearing set on a date yet to be determined.
State House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel (D), and Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow (D) referred to Scott’s resolution as a “sad distraction.”
“This is yet another example of the extreme wing of the Republican Party ginning up divisive social issues in order to create problems where none exist. Big government has no business telling consenting adults who they should love.”
“This resolution may be a helpful gimmick for winning in closed GOP primaries,” they added, “but it should be offensive to all Idahoans who value their individual rights and freedoms and just want to live their lives without egregious government interference.”
In 2021, Rep. Scott compared Idaho to Nazi Germany over a policy requiring students to wear facemasks in school to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Idaho still has a ban on same-sex marriage on the books, in spite of a federal judge ruling that it violates the U.S. Constitution. Recent polling suggests more Idahoans support same-sex marriage than are against it.
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