In June of 2015 the Supreme Court made the landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges; this ruling declared that the Fourteenth Amendment requires all states to grant same-sex marriages and recognize the marriages performed in other states. Now, just a decade later, gay marriage was brought back into question by a former Kentucky county clerk, Kim Davis, on November 7th, 2025. Just three days after the initial court hearings made about the legalization of gay marriage, it remained unchanged by the Supreme Court, effectively upholding the previous ruling from 10 years ago.
Kim Davis, former county clerk in Kentucky refused to license a gay couple and from then on attempted to bring it to court. A federal jury ultimately awarded the couple who sued her, David Moore and David Ermold, $100,000 in damages – a ruling upheld by the Supreme Court in November 2025 when it declined to hear her appeal. Davis had previously been sued in a 2015 disagreement after her refusal to issue a marriage license to a gay couple.
An official order was stated that Davis must issue a license to Moore and Ermold, after her refusal to grant their license, she was held in contempt which resulted in 6 days jail time. While her short sentence was playing out, the couple was able to officially obtain their license and subsequently allowed a new state policy to occur. Kentucky granted the law that there is no requirement for a clerk’s name on the license in order to prevent further controversy such as this.
Moore and Ermold sought damages and received their $100,000 sum and Davis’ requirement to reimburse $260,000 in legal fees – according to Davis’ lawyer. By the end, Davis appealed and claimed she was exercising her right to religion according to the First Amendment.
