Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), a congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus Vice Chair, today joined more than 100 House members in introducing a resolution to affirm the Supreme Court’s rulings on same-sex marriage. The resolution comes days after Justice Barrett’s rushed Supreme Court confirmation and alarming statements by Justices Thomas and Alito questioning the Supreme Court’s marriage equality precedent.

On October 5, Justices Thomas and Alito issued a statement about Obergefell v. Hodges implying that this settled decision is one that could eventually be ‘fixed.’ The justices wrote Obergefell v. Hodges "enables courts and governments to brand religious adherents who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman as bigots, making their religious liberty concerns that much easier to dismiss.” 

“It sends an alarming message to the LGBTQ+ community that Justices Alito and Thomas signaled their hope to overturn marriage equality just days before another far-right justice was rushed on to the court,” said Pingree. “From Windsor v. United States to Obergefell v. Hodges and Pavan V. Smith, the Supreme Court has rightly decided in multiple cases that same-sex couples were unconstitutionally denied their rights. We’ve introduced this resolution today to unequivocally affirm our support for marriage equality and the settled rights of LGBTQ+ Americans. Love is love, and there is no going back.”

The House resolution to Reaffirm Support for Marriage Equality states that the Supreme Court has “rightfully held, on several occasions, that same-sex couples have both the right to marry and to enjoy the benefits and protections provided by the government to married couples.” 

Read the full resolution here.

In 2015, Pingree, a long-time advocate of marriage equality, joined 166 of her House colleagues and 44 Senators in filing an amicus brief in support of marriage equality in the Obergefell v. Hodges case. 

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