Pam Yorksmith, who was among the plaintiffs in the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, carries her child in the 2015 Cincinnati Pride Parade.

As national news outlets recently picked up the story about a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the future of equal marriage for same-sex couples, both of us received a barrage of messages from worried friends and colleagues.

We understand people are concerned about their families and children, or about whether they’ll be able to legally marry in the future. In the tumult of these times, nearly everyone is anxious about how to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Let’s set the foundation about where we are. Marriage equality is the law of the land and overwhelmingly supported by the American people.

The landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling from 2015 affirmed the protections in our U.S. Constitution saying that people, not the government, should be able to decide whom they marry, and that equal protection requires access to legal marriage for same-sex couples on the same terms and conditions as others.

It was rightly decided under our constitutional due process and equal protection principles. The 2022 Respect for Marriage Act, approved by bipartisan majorities in Congress, enshrines respect for those marriages under federal and state law.

Over 823,000 married same-sex couples live in the US

A recent report from The Williams Institute found that there are more than 823,000 married same-sex couples in the United States as of June, and they are raising nearly 300,000 children. These couples have married because they love each other, they want legal formalization of their mutual commitment and responsibility, and they want to provide stable, protective homes for their children.

While we should take seriously any petition to the Supreme Court, the one submitted recently is especially weak. It comes from the lawyers for Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples 10 years ago and instructed her office to do the same.

Eventually, a court granted damages to a couple who were repeatedly denied a license. Davis has been to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals three times about the couples’ suit and lost each time, and the entire 6th Circuit ‒ including six judges appointed by President Donald Trump ‒ has unanimously denied her a rehearing.

Davis’ team has requested review from the Supreme Court, of those damages and of the Obergefell ruling, which is her right. However, given that the issues that Davis claims need resolution are narrow and already well settled, it would be highly unusual for the Supreme Court to grant review.

The freedom to marry for same-sex couples remains extremely popular. People from all walks of life, across faith groups and across the political spectrum continue to express strong support. A majority of people in every single state are supportive, according to the Public Religion Research Institute.

Recent Gallup polling found that 68% of Americans support marriage for same-sex couples, and a survey conducted by three right-of-center polling firms tracked support at 72%, including 56% of Republicans.

Former opponents now support same-sex marriage

Individuals and entities that were some of the strongest opponents of marriage equality have evolved. Two decades ago, the two of us worked together in Massachusetts to win and protect marriage in the very first state. Then-Gov. Mitt Romney fought hard to ensure the ruling never took effect.

And yet in 2022, Romney voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, stating that "Congress − and I − esteem and love all of our fellow Americans equally.”

In 2008, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints played a lead role in undoing marriage equality in California via Proposition 8. Fourteen years later, the church also backed the Respect for Marriage Act.

For so many Americans, this isn’t about politics. It’s about letting people live their lives. Same-sex couples build families and contribute to their communities just like anyone else. That’s the reality, and it’s working.

We now have two decades of evidence that marriage equality has helped millions of people across the country. In 2024, the nonpartisan RAND released a study about marriage for same-sex couples. The think tank found many positive outcomes, including for children, health, financial well-being and relationship stability.

The researchers pressure-tested opponents’ claims of harms to society, like rising divorce rates or lower marriage rates, and found “no empirical basis for concerns that allowing same-sex couples to marry has negatively affected different-sex couples and families.”

We've never taken our eye off this ball, and we never will. We will learn as early as this fall what the U.S. Supreme Court will do with the request from Davis’ lawyers.

Should the high court grant review, LGBTQ+ legal and advocacy groups and millions of Americans from all walks of life will engage to protect what we all long fought for and the overwhelming majority of people support.

For decades, we’ve seen how finding common ground on why marriage matters for families and communities − and why it is good for everyone, regardless of who they are or whom they love − moves our community forward. Together, we can remind the country that LGBTQ+ people want what everyone else wants, including to live in marriage with the people they love, to care for their families, and to raise their kids in safety and dignity.

Mary Bonauto, a senior director at GLAD Law, argued the first marriage win in Massachusetts in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health and Obergefell v. Hodges before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015. Marc Solomon, a partner at Civitas Public Affairs Group, was national campaign director of Freedom to Marry. He is the author of "Winning Marriage: The Inside Story of How Same-Sex Couples Took On the Politicians and Pundits – and Won."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Same-sex marriage has overwhelming support. Supreme Court should let ruling stand. | Opinion

Reporting by Mary Bonauto and Marc Solomon / USA TODAY

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