The plaintiff in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, who fought for same-sex marriage all the way to the US Supreme Court, has warned the right is “at serious risk” under President Donald Trump.
Speaking to i News, Jim Obergefell, who was the plaintiff in the landmark case of Obergefell v. Hodges , which ended with same-sex marriage being recognised across the US, said the hard-won right could “unravel very quickly” now that Trump is back in the White House.
The Obergefell v. Hodges legal battle began in 2013, when Obergefell legally married his terminally ill partner John Arthur in Maryland. After 22 years together, Arthur died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a type of motor neurone disease, in October 2013.
Obergefell took his case to court after finding out he could not be listed as Arthur’s surviving spouse on the death certificate in his home state of Ohio, because, unlike in Maryland, same-sex marriage was not legal there.
The case reached the Supreme Court in 2015, and Obergefell’s success meant same-sex marriage was legal across the entire country. But he has now warned: “The only thing people should assume is there is worse coming, and [Trump] will do anything he wants.”
Those who think same-sex marriage rights are safe are “fooling themselves”, Obergefell added.
His comments come at a time when nine states are already trying to overturn the court ruling.
Meanwhile, polling by Gallup found that support for marriage equality in the US has dropped slightly, from 71 per cent in 2023, to 69 per cent last year.
“It could unravel very quickly. The Supreme Court could decide ‘we’ve got these petitions from these states asking us to overturn it, we think they’re right’,” Obergefell said.
The LGBTQ+ community in the US “should be making phone calls, sending emails, doing everything we can, right now” to support same-sex marriage rights, he urged.
Wedded gay men and women should create a “marriage box” containing important documents that “protect you as a couple”, such as health insurance, immigration documentation or parental documents, which could be affected if the Supreme Court reversed their ruling – as they did with landmark abortion legislation two years ago.
Although Trump has not said anything to indicate that he aims to strike down same-sex marriage country-wide in the immediate future, the LGBTQ+ community has been in the crosshairs of executive orders since he returned to the Oval Office. So far, the president has attacked equality initiatives, proclaimed the US only recognises “two sexes”, and moved to ban trans men and women from the military.
