LGBTQ+ advocates are hoping to enshrine marriage protections for same-sex couples in several state constitutions this fall — a preemptive effort to protect that right from a conservative U.S. Supreme Court and a possible second Donald Trump presidency.
Voters in California, Colorado and Hawaii will have the opportunity next month to repeal language in their state constitutions that defines marriage as solely between a man and a woman, and to further solidify protections for LGBTQ+ families.
Same-sex marriage has been federally protected since 2015, when the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that state bans barring same-sex couples from getting married violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
But when the Supreme Court ― stacked with three more conservative justices appointed by Trump ― ruled against federal abortion protections in its 2022 decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, advocates took note that other rights may also be on the chopping block.