Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is once again signaling that landmark LGBTQ rights rulings could be in jeopardy. Speaking at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C., Thomas dismissed the idea that past Supreme Court precedent is “the gospel.” He argued that just because a decision was made doesn’t mean it should stand.
Thomas said, “If it’s totally stupid, and that’s what they’ve decided, you don’t go along with it just because it’s decided. You could go up to the engine room and find that it’s an orangutan driving. And you’re going to follow that? I think we owe our fellow citizens more than that.”
Thomas has a long history of opposing LGBTQ rights. In his concurring opinion when Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, he called for reconsidering rulings on contraception, sodomy laws, and marriage equality — describing them as “demonstrably erroneous.” He was also one of four justices who dissented in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marry nationwide. While no official challenge to Obergefell has reached the Court, some conservative states have introduced resolutions urging a review, and former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis has appealed her case with a petition to overturn the decision.
If marriage equality were reversed, same-sex marriages would become illegal in 31 states. Marriage rights would still be recognized at the federal level under the Respect for Marriage Act, signed by President Biden in 2022, but protections could fracture state by state. Polls continue to show that public support for marriage equality is strong — with over two-thirds of Americans in favor, including a record-high 88 percent of Democrats. For now, the ruling that legalized same-sex marriage remains the law of the land. But Justice Thomas’s words are a reminder that the fight for LGBTQ rights at the Supreme Court is far from over.
