'Like a horror movie': LGBTQ+ community speaks out against same-sex marriage appeal
- - 'Like a horror movie': LGBTQ+ community speaks out against same-sex marriage appeal
Greta Cross, USA TODAYAugust 19, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Exhausting and terrifying. That's how Jeremy Atherton Lin described the recent appeal that seeks to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 10-year-old Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the United States.
On July 24, former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court about $100,000 she was ordered to pay to a gay couple whom she refused to issue a marriage license to in 2015 because of her religious beliefs.
"The High Court now has the opportunity to finally overturn this egregious opinion from 2015," Mat Staver, head of conservative legal group Liberty Counsel, which is representing Davis, said in a statement.
But experts like Kenneth Gordon, a marital and family lawyer in Florida, say the potential to overturn Obergefell is a "long shot." Obergefell is sound, from a legal perspective, Gordon said, and same-sex marriage is widely accepted by the general public.
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Regardless of the likelihood of Obergefell being overturned, some queer folks remain fearful about the future of their rights, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court's willingness to overturn Roe v. Wade and effectively end affirmative action in college admissions in recent years.
"These regressions feel like ... a horror movie, where the killer just makes this one more revival and the audience gasps because you thought everybody was safe," Atherton Lin told USA TODAY.
Atherton Lin, who is now based in Britain, wrote extensively about the history of same-sex marriage in the U.S. in his new book, "Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told." His second book, released in June, also provides readers with an inside look his relationship with his husband of nearly 30 years. Athernton Lin's partner, who he references as "Famous" in his books, wished to remain anonymous.
Jeremy Atherton Lin, left, and his partner, who have been married since 2007. Atherton Lin is the author of "Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told" and "Gay Bar: Why We Went Out."
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Where were you when Obergefell was announced?
Atherton Lin couldn't recall exactly where he was or what he was doing when the Obergefell ruling was announced, but he and his husband had actually already tied their "first" knot with a civil partnership in the UK in 2007, he said.
In 2016, after the Obergefell ruling, the two converted their civil partnership to a marriage in the U.S., Atherton Lin said.
Jeremy Atherton Lin, left, and his partner, who have been married since 2007. Atherton Lin is the author of "Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told" and "Gay Bar: Why We Went Out."
Aaron Schekorra, executive director of The GLO Center, an LGBTQIA+ resource center in southwest Missouri, "vividly" remembers when he learned of Obergefell.
"I was recently out of college," Schekorra told USA TODAY. "I took my lunch break early and went and sat in a drive-through and just cried. I had to get away from my desk to have that sort of emotional release and that sense of relief. I was in a serious relationship at the time, and I was getting to the point where I should have been considering proposing. I didn't know if that was going to be something in my future."
Aaron Schekorra, executive director of The GLO Center in Springfield, Missouri on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023.
Like many LGBTQIA+ folks, Schekorra didn't waste time. He bought an engagement ring the same week of the ruling and by November 2015, he was married.
"Often times people talk about it as just a marriage or just a relationship or something like that, but there's so much more that goes into it," Schekorra said.
Schekorra has since divorced, but he said even that right is an important one.
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Brooke Friedman of Missouri also remembers where she was when she learned of the ruling: Sitting with her family in their living room. Though she was not yet out to her family, Friedman said the group's mood was high.
"We were excited that everybody could just love who they want," Friedman told USA TODAY.
Friedman married her wife, Emillie Friedman, in October 2024. They two had met about three years prior and quickly moved in with each other and got a dog.
Brooke, left, and Emillie Friedman on their wedding day on Oct. 12, 2024 in Missouri.
Emillie said the recent appeal shocks and scares her, especially as the two are planning on having a child together soon. But she remains hopeful.
"Nothing is going to change the fact that Brooke and I are legally married. We are married in our hearts," she said.
What would happen if Obergefell was overturned?
Even if Obergefell was overturned, same-sex marriages would likely remain protected in the U.S. In 2022, former President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, which, at the federal level, protects same-sex and interracial marriages.
This means a couple who gets married in a state like California, where same-sex marriage is legal, would have the same rights in a state like Tennessee, even if that state outlawed gay marriage.
Contributing: Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LGBTQ+ community shares frustration, worry with Obergefell appeal
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