What would happen to MS same-sex couples if Supreme Court overturns marriage law? What we found
The Supreme Court of the United States has been asked to consider taking up a case challenging its landmark ruling that made same-sex marriages legal nationwide, according to a July filing.
While the court hasn’t made a decision on whether or not to hear the case, some justices — including one of the court’s more conservative justices, Clarence Thomas — have expressed interest in revisiting the 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.
The request to hear the case comes three years after the conservative-majority court overturned Roe v. Wade, which protected the right to abortion throughout the country.
More about the case
- The case was filed by Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who was briefly jailed after refusing to issue a marriage license to a gay couple after same-sex marriages were legalized nationally.
- In the case, Davis calls the decision in Obergefell “egregiously wrong” and said it caused her to choose between her religious beliefs and her job.
Why it matters
- There are about 823,000 married same-sex couples in the U.S., according to a June 2025 report by the Williams Institute, a think tank at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law.
- The number of married same-sex couples has grown more than twice its size since Obergefell was decided, having the most profound impact on marriages in the South at 21%, according to researchers.
- In Mississippi, there are more than 3,000 married same-sex couples and more than 2,800 unmarried same-sex couples in households, according to U.S. Census data from 2020.
- As of now 31 states, including Mississippi, still have marriage bans in place, meaning same-sex marriages don’t have to be enforced in those states if Obergefell were to be overturned.
Which states still have marriage bans for same-sex couples
These are the states with marriage bans, according to the World Population Review:
- Nebraska
- Oregon
- Virginia
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Wisconsin
- Colorado
- Indiana
- Pennsylvania
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
- Iowa
Same-sex marriages in Mississippi
In Mississippi, same-sex marriages are still banned by the constitution and a statute.
The state was among the last to legalize same-sex marriages after Obergefell, along with Louisiana, POLITICO reported in 2015.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said the decision was not “immediately effective” because of a stay issued on an order overturning the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, the outlet reported.
What happens to same-sex marriages in Mississippi if the law is overturned
If the law is overturned, existing marriages are protected under the Respect for Marriage Act, which congress passed in 2022.
The law requires states to “recognize any marriage between two individuals that is valid under state law.”
However, if Obergefell were to be overturned, because of Mississippi’s constitution and statue banning same-sex marriages, same-sex couples looking to get married would have to do so in a different state that recognizes same-sex unions.
Support for same sex marriage in Mississippi
A majority of Americans, 67%, support same-sex marriages, according to 2024 data from the Public Religion Research Institute.
That number represents a slight drop from 2022, when 69% of Americans said they supported marriage rights for same-sex couples, according to the data.
Mississippians are split on their support for same-sex marriages, researchers said. The state is one of four states with the least support, alongside Arkansas, Alabama and South Carolina, according to the data.
