The Supreme Court will not hear Kim Davis latest appeal in her case about marriage equality. Her appeal asked the Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized marriage equality in all 50 states.The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied, the Courts order list says in a line about Davis appeal. It doesnt explain why. Related Justice who wrote Obergefell opinion shares surprising reason he thinks it wont be overturned BREAKING: The Supreme Court DENIES former county clerk Kim Davis's request for the justices to take up her longshot bid to overturn 2015's Obergefell v. Hodges marriage equality decision. No justice even writes about the request. Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social) 2025-11-10T14:34:18.230ZLGBTQ+ advocates hailed the decision.Today, the Supreme Court affirmed what we all know: marriage equality is the law of the land, said Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings in a statement. This is a victory not only for the LGBTQ+ community, but for everyone who believes in our Constitution and the rule of law. The Courts decision reaffirms a simple fact: equal protection of the law applies to all, not just some.Davis was a county clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, in 2015 when she refused to give a marriage license to a same-sex couple, citing her religious beliefs. In the past 10 years, she has been sued, jailed, lost her case, and appealed numerous times. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Her latest appeal, filed this past summer, was widely considered a longshot by legal scholars. It asked the supreme Court to review her First Amendment argument to overturn a decision against her. Her lawyers at the hate group Liberty Counsel said that they also asked the Court to consider overturning Obergefell since it did significant damage to the historic definition of marriage, to states rights, to religious freedom, and to the rule of law.This is similar to an argument that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito made in 2020 that the mere existence of married same-sex couples is a violation of Christians religious freedom because seeing married same-sex couples encourages people to judge Christians as bigots. (That opinion was delivered in the context of a different Kim Davis appeal). SinceObergefell, parties have continually attempted to label people of good will as bigots merely for refusing to alter their religious beliefs in the wake of prevailing orthodoxy, Thomas wrote at the time.While her appeal received significant media attention, legal experts believed it was a poor vehicle to overturn marriage equality, if the Court is looking to do so at all. Alito and Justice Amy Coney Barrett both recently denied that there was any plan to do so.The Supreme Court receives about 10,000 petitions a year asking it to hear various cases the Court agrees to hear only 75 to 85 of them,according to The Judicial Learning Center. Even Bill Powell, the lawyer representing the same-sex couple in Davis case, was optimistic the Supreme Court would not hear her case.Not a single judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals showed any interest in Davis rehearing petition, and we are confident the Supreme Court will likewise agree that Davis arguments do not merit further attention, Powell said.Even if the Supreme Court had taken the case, Chris Geidner, the gay publisher and author ofLaw Dork,toldLGBTQ Nationin Januarythat he didnt think a case like Davis would provide sufficient legal reasoning to overturn same-sex marriage entirely.Rather, he said that a successful religious freedom or free speech challenge toObergefellwould do other bad things, like hollow out civil protections or public accommodations for same-sex couples, essentially inconveniencing or endangering them, but not outright denying them the right to a marriage license.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.