(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Supreme Court is set to privately discuss on Friday a request to overturn the landmark ruling that legalised same-sex marriage nationwide.

Among the cases up for consideration is a long-shot appeal filed by Kim Davis, the former Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, as reported by AP.

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Davis has sought to overturn a lower court ruling that ordered her to pay $360,000 in damages and attorney's fees to a couple she had refused a marriage license.

The Supreme Court could announce its decision on whether to hear the case as early as Monday.

What did Davis's lawyers say in the petition?

In their petition, Davis's lawyers repeatedly cited Justice Clarence Thomas, the only sitting justice who has openly called for overturning the landmark same-sex marriage ruling, AP reported.

Thomas was one of four dissenting justices in 2015. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito are the other dissenters who also remain on the court.

Roberts has been silent on the subject since he wrote a dissenting opinion in the case. Alito has continued to criticise the decision, but said recently he was not advocating that it be overturned.

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Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was not on the court in 2015, has said there are times when the court should correct mistakes and overturn decisions, as it did in the 2022 case that ended a constitutional right to abortion.

But Barrett has suggested recently that same-sex marriage might be in a different category than abortion because people have relied on the decision when they married and had children.

Who is Kim Davis, and why is she doing this now?

Kim Davis first drew national attention in 2015 when she defied federal court orders to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges decision.

Her refusal, based on her religious beliefs, sparked a major clash between advocates of religious liberty and supporters of LGBTQ+ rights.

After repeated warnings, Davis was held in contempt of court and briefly jailed in September 2015. Upon her release, her office began issuing marriage licenses without her name on them - a compromise later formalised by the Kentucky Legislature, which removed clerks' names from all marriage licenses statewide.

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Nearly a decade later, Davis is now appealing a lower court ruling that ordered her to pay $360,000 in damages and attorney's fees to a couple she had denied a license. In her petition to the Supreme Court, Davis contends that the Obergefell decision infringed on her constitutional right to freely exercise her religion, according to a report by NBC Washington.

She defied court orders to issue the licenses until a federal judge jailed her for contempt of court in September 2015.

She was released after her staff issued the licenses on her behalf but removed her name from the form. The Kentucky Legislature later enacted a law removing the names of all county clerks from state marriage licenses.

Davis lost a reelection bid in 2018.

Here's what expert says

Dwayne Steward, executive director of the nonprofit Equality Ohio, said it is routine for the Supreme Court to review such appeals, but that doesn't make the situation any less troubling, according to a report by SpectrumNews.

“The Supreme Court is reviewing her request, just like the thousands of requests that are submitted to the Supreme Court, you know, a small number of which make it through,” Steward said, according to the report.

“This process is not out of the ordinary, but this moment is very disappointing, and it's causing a lot of very dangerous rhetoric, even though this case has a slim chance of moving forward.”

What does Donald Trump think of LGBTQ+ community?

On January 20, 2025, the first day of Trump administration 2.0, an executive order titled“Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism” was issued, declaring that there are only two sexes, male and female, fixed at conception.

The order also revoked LGBTQ+ protections established during the Biden era and disbanded the White House Gender Policy Council.

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Trump further ordered agencies to replace “gender” with“sex” in all documents or forms. It bans funding for anything promoting "gender ideology" that includes transgender recognition.

However, during the 2016 campaign and post-election, Trump said he would“strongly consider” appointing Supreme Court justices to overturn Oberge, but days after winning, he told CBS's 60 Minutes,“It's irrelevant because it was already settled. It's the law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean, it's done... These cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They've been settled, and I'm fine with that.”

Trump's stance on transgender policy

He has signed multiple executive orders (EOs) since 20 January 2025, implementing many ideas from his 2024 campaign and overlapping with Project 2025.

(With inputs from agencies)

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