Amy Coney Barrett explains “very concrete” reasons marriage equality will remain

[Jessica_Rose]

Amy Coney Barrett explains "very concrete" reasons marriage equality will remain in place

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/10/amy-coney-barrett-explains-very-concrete-reasons-marriage-equality-will-remain-in-place/ 🔗

Molly Sprayregen (20 Oct 2025)

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett confirmed her belief that marriage equality has resulted in "very concrete reliance interests" that make it unlikely to be overturned.

In a conversation with the New York Times' Ross Douthat, Barrett defined reliance interests as "things that would be upset or undone if a decision is undone."

Douthat asked if Obergefell v. Hodges created "social reliance interests in the sense of people making life choices on the basis of a right being protected."

Coney Barrett said yes, but emphasized the reliance interests in this case are even more significant than Douthat made it seem by calling them social interests.

"That kind of sounds like in things in the air. Those are very concrete reliance interests," she said. "So those would be classic reliance interests in the terms of the law, in terms of legal doctrine... Those are financial. Those are medical."

Earlier in the conversation, Coney Barrett explained that the decision to overturn precedent "is never just is this decision right or wrong."

"Because if a decision is wrong, then you have to decide whether you should keep it for many of the reasons you say, stability, reliance, interests, et cetera."

She also pushed back against the idea that the Court frequently overturns precedent, saying that data she asked her law clerks to collect shows that under current Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court has overturned precedent about one time per year. Under former Chief Justices William Rehnquist and Warren Burger, it was closer to two and a half or three times per year.

"So the Court takes precedent quite seriously, and the Court really does not overturn precedent all the time," she said.

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I have seen similar statements about marriage equality several times over the last few months. Despite the claims that marriage equality will remain, I am skeptical. If anything, it make me believe they will do everything they can to overturn it.

Love always -- Jessica Rose

[Lori Dee]

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion legalizing same-sex marriage. Here's why he says it won't be overturned
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/09/politics/anthony-kennedy-obergefell-same-sex-marriage-adoption-supreme-court-overturn 🔗
CNN - Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst
Oct 9, 2025

Retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the Supreme Court's 2015 opinion declaring a right to same-sex marriage, recalled on Wednesday one of the poignant realities that influenced him – and why he believes the decision would never be overturned.

"A large part of the reasoning in the opinion, and the background of the opinion, was that I had not known how many children were adopted by parents" who were gay or lesbian, Kennedy said during an interview with CNN in his chambers. "At first, I thought there were 75,000 children or so. It's in the hundreds of thousands."

The court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges was rooted in Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of liberty and equal protection of the law. Yet Kennedy, who retired in 2018, told CNN his concern for adopted children "was a crucial part of my reasoning," and he predicted that could ensure it endures.

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