Idaho House pushes Supreme Court to roll back marriage equality

The Idaho House of Representatives has approved a nonbinding resolution urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark ruling that guaranteed marriage equality nationwide.

In a 44–26 vote on Tuesday, lawmakers advanced House Joint Memorial 17 (HJM 17), introduced by Republican Representative Tony Wisniewski. The measure calls on the Court to “restore the natural definition of marriage, a union of one man and one woman,” directly challenging the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry.

All 44 votes in favor came from Republicans, while 17 Republicans joined all nine Democrats to oppose the resolution. The proposal now moves to the Idaho Senate, where a similar memorial passed the House last year but stalled, Newsweek reports.

Idaho’s constitution was amended by voters in 2006 to limit marriage to heterosexual couples, but the ban was struck down in 2014 by a federal judge, making same-sex marriage legal in the state a year before Obergefell extended that right across the country.

The renewed push comes amid ongoing efforts by some conservative lawmakers nationwide to roll back LGBTQ+ rights following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision ending federal constitutional protections for abortion. In a concurring opinion in that case, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested the Court should reconsider several previous rulings, including Obergefell.

However, the Supreme Court has so far declined to reopen the marriage equality question. In November, the justices turned away an appeal from former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who had refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Court rejected her petition in a brief, unsigned order without any noted dissents or explanation, leaving Obergefell fully intact.

Supporters of marriage equality say Idaho’s memorial is part of a broader pattern of symbolic attacks on LGBTQ+ rights that, while not immediately changing the law, signal intent to erode hard-won protections and create uncertainty for same-sex couples and their families.

Even if the Idaho Senate adopts HJM 17, it would carry no legal force and would not alter the status of marriage rights in the state. Same-sex marriage would remain protected unless the U.S. Supreme Court chooses to revisit and overturn Obergefell, and the Court is under no obligation to respond to or act on state-level requests of this kind.