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For many of us, Justice Kennedy\u2019s announcement that he is retiring from the U.S. Supreme Court created anxiety. It left many LGBTQ people wondering: what does this mean for my marriage and my family? Are the advances we\u2019ve made toward equality in jeopardy? Justice Kennedy\u2019s retirement at this juncture is cause for great concern.<\/p>\n
via Family Equality Council<\/a><\/p>\n It is extremely unlikely that the Supreme Court will overturn any of the landmark LGBTQ equality cases in the foreseeable future. There is a high bar for the Supreme Court to reverse itself, and it is unlikely that the Court will do so anytime soon given how recently the cases were decided and the growing public acceptance and support of marriage equality and LGBTQ people. Moreover, with Kennedy gone, it now seems likely that Chief Justice John Roberts is the Court\u2019s new swing vote, and a quick reversal of a landmark case like Obergefell resulting from Trump filling a vacancy on the Court would fly in the face of the Chief Justice\u2019s repeated commitments to avoid the appearance of political partisanship on the Court or readily rejecting established precedent. This view is reinforced by Chief Justice Roberts\u2019 choice to not join the dissent led by Justice Gorsuch in Pavan v. Smith last year, a case from Arkansas that the Supreme Court used to summarily reinforce the core holding of Obergefell\u200a\u2014\u200athat states must treat married same-sex couples same way as other married couples.<\/p>\n However, you don\u2019t have to overturn Obergefell to undermine equality and make the underlying rights inaccessible to LGBTQ people and their children. And, to be clear, that is the far-right conservative movement\u2019s strategy, which already is underway. As we recently highlighted in our report, Putting Children at Risk: How Efforts to Undermine Marriage Equality Harm Children<\/a> (coauthored with Movement Advancement Project), the freedom to marry brought with it a whole host of rights, benefits, and responsibilities that gave same-sex couples increased security and protections such as access to healthcare benefits, social security benefits, inheritance rights, recognition of both parents on the birth certificate, access to confirmatory adoption nationwide, and the ability to jointly adopt a child as a married couple. As outlined in our report, the ongoing attacks on marriage equality by states through their rejection of equal treatment of same-sex spouses and efforts to create religiousCall your Senators TODAY and tell them to oppose any of the nominees on Trump\u2019s list of conservative nominees and demand that they only confirm an independent and fair-minded person without political or ideological motivations and who will uphold the protections and values enshrined in the Constitution. exemptions to marriage, adoption and foster care, and nondiscrimination protections pose a significant harm to LGBTQ people, our families, and our children.<\/p>\n There are several cases attempting to chip away at marriage and LGBTQ equality, or cases challenging attempts to do so, already in the pipeline. And, a Supreme Court with a shift to the right will be far less likely to reject discrimination toward LGBTQ people in any form and more likely to give a license to discriminate to those who object to same-sex marriages (e.g., business owners, health care providers, adoption agencies), rendering our marriages less equal to those of different-sex couples as a practical matter. Our community has an enormous amount at stake.<\/p>\n There is no doubt that we will have to fight hard. But this is a battle we can win. Here are five steps you can take:<\/strong><\/p>\n