--- title: If Obergefell Falls, What Happens to Same-Sex Marriage? description: If the Supreme Court decides to overturn Obergefell, marriage rights could still be rolled back around the country. Here's how that would look. canonical: https://time.com/6240497/same-sex-marriage-rights-us-obergefell/ author: Jasmine Aguilera article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-12-14T15:26:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T15:10:02.353Z article:section: Politics og:title: What Will Happen to Same-Sex Marriage Around the Country if 'Obergefell' Falls og:description: Since Obergefell was decided, same-sex marriage bans in 35 states across the country have lain dormant. og:url: https://time.com/6240497/same-sex-marriage-rights-us-obergefell/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d1d22866736049a/698a38c322fb857e9ce2e3bc/Obergefell-SCOTUS.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 28: Supporters of gay marriage stand ben og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Will Happen to Same-Sex Marriage Around the Country if 'Obergefell' Falls twitter:description: Since Obergefell was decided, same-sex marriage bans in 35 states across the country have lain dormant. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d1d22866736049a/698a38c322fb857e9ce2e3bc/Obergefell-SCOTUS.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Will Happen to Same-Sex Marriage Around the Country if _Obergefell_ Falls > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Jasmine Aguilera](https://time.com/author/jasmine-aguilera/) ## Jasmine Aguilera Dec 14, 2022 3:26 PM UTC  Supporters of same-sex marriage stand beneath a large rainbow flag in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., April 28, 2015. Supporters of same-sex marriage stand beneath a large rainbow flag in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., April 28, 2015. Astrid Riecken —The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Jasmine Aguilera](https://time.com/author/jasmine-aguilera/) ## Jasmine Aguilera Dec 14, 2022 3:26 PM UTC When the Supreme Court overturned the landmark abortion case [_Roe v. Wade_](https://time.com/6239003/2022-abortion-clinic-closures-roe-v-wade/) this summer, Justice Clarence Thomas’s [concurring opinion](https://time.com/6191044/clarence-thomas-same-sex-marriage-contraception-abortion/) named several other cases he wants the high court to reconsider, including [_Obergefell v. Hodges_](https://time.com/6189464/jim-obergefell-interview/), the 2015 case that made same-sex marriage legal in every U.S. state. The opinion galvanized members of the LGBTQ community, advocates, and lawmakers in both parties to create federal legislation with an extra layer of protection for marriage rights. This week, President Joe Biden signed [the Respect for Marriage Act](https://time.com/6239672/house-passes-same-sex-marriage-protections/) into law. But if the Supreme Court does decide to overturn _Obergefell,_ marriage rights could still be rolled back around the country—the new law doesn’t prevent states from refusing to license the unions. The Respect for Marriage Act requires that all states recognize same-sex unions, but doesn’t require states to issue them. In the seven years since _Obergefell_ was decided, same-sex marriage bans in 35 states across the country have lain dormant. But should _Obergefell_ be overturned, they would again be activated. Similar to what happened to abortion rights after the Supreme Court decided _Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization_ in June and overturned _Roe_, people’s access to same-sex marriage licenses would depend on geography. “It’s going to be chaotic, and each state is going to have to figure out whether they now have a law on the books that is enforceable,” says Leonore Carpenter, associate professor of law at Rutgers University. **Read More:** [_Clarence Thomas Signals Same-Sex Marriage and Contraception Rights at Risk After Overturning Roe v. Wade_](https://time.com/6191044/clarence-thomas-same-sex-marriage-contraception-abortion/) The 35 states that currently have inactive bans on same-sex marriage are largely concentrated in the American South, from Texas to Florida, according to an [analysis](https://www.lgbtmap.org/news/Marriage-Report-March-2022) by the Movement Advancement Project, an independent think tank that advocates for equality by conducting research. Some Midwestern states like Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin also ban same-sex marriages. In the West, states from Arizona to Montana ban the unions. If the Supreme Court were to overturn _Obergefell_, the new federal law guarantees that a same-sex couple who was married in Illinois, for example, would still be recognized as married if they moved to Virginia, which has a ban on same-sex marriage that could be reactivated. But a same-sex couple wishing to be married in Virginia might have to travel out of state to get their marriage license. The Respect for Marriage Act also provides similar protections for interracial marriages. The dynamic could create a challenge for couples who want to get married but can’t afford to travel to another state for the license. That would exclude such couples from accessing the benefits that come with marriage, including inheritance, tax benefits, and the ability to make health care decisions for a spouse who is unable to make them themselves. “You will start to see a real economic justice problem,” Carpenter says. Bryan Wilson, who co-founded the Pride Center West Texas in Odessa, Texas, says the Respect for Marriage Act is a win for him and his husband, and other LGBTQ couples who are already married, but worries it doesn’t do enough for young or unmarried people in states like Texas. “I have youth who go, ‘Well, if on the off chance I ever want to get married in about six, seven years, 10 years, 15 years, I’m probably not going to be able to do it here anyway, so I hope I’ve moved to California, New York, or Washington,'” Wilson says. “There will be enough respect for marriage when every state in the union, every territory, has legalized it as well as enshrined it in their constitution, that same-sex marriage is allowed,” Wilson adds. **Read More:** [_Jim Obergefell Helped Secure the Right to Same-Sex Marriage. Now He’s Fighting to Keep It_](https://time.com/6189464/jim-obergefell-interview/) For LGBTQ people living in states with dormant bans on the books who are vulnerable to financial insecurity, face discrimination, or struggle with their mental health, overruling _Obergefell_ could cause a different kind of fallout, experts warn. “It would be a deep psychological and emotional blow to a lot of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to be told that even if their state has to recognize a marriage formed out of the state, that their state nonetheless disapproves of their relationship and effectively considers them second class citizens,” says Michael Boucai, a law professor at the University of Buffalo. But Boucai is skeptical about whether _Obergefell_ is truly in jeopardy. _Roe v. Wade_ was decided by the Supreme Court based on an interpretation of the 14th Amendment and the word “liberty” in that amendment, he says. The same interpretation was applied when deciding _Obergefell_, but the Justices more heavily weighed the amendment’s equal protection clause. “Unlike _Roe v. Wade_, _Obergefell_ wasn’t simply decided on liberty grounds, it was also decided on equality grounds,” Boucai says. “Though I think that there’s every reason to be worried, and it’s good to err on the side of caution, and I’m glad that the Democrats were able to score this political win with Republican support, I would not be panicking right now about the prospect of _Obergefell_ being overruled.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6240497/same-sex-marriage-rights-us-obergefell/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6240497/same-sex-marriage-rights-us-obergefell/"},"headline":"What Will Happen to Same-Sex Marriage Around the Country if Obergefell Falls","datePublished":"2022-12-14T15:26:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T15:10:02.353Z","description":"Since Obergefell was decided, same-sex marriage bans in 35 states across the country have lain dormant. 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