A decade after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in the United States, some Republican leaders still believe in the traditional definition of marriage between a man and a woman.
Fox News Digital spoke with Republican lawmakers on the 10th anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark decision that required all states to lawfully recognize and license same-sex marriages.
Ten years later, some Republican lawmakers still don’t support gay marriage, but they say preventing same-sex couples from getting married is no longer a legislative agenda.
‘My belief is that a marriage should be a man and a woman,’ Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. ‘I think that’s the basis of all civil societies and all strong nations. It doesn’t mean I don’t love my fellow Americans who take a different view, and clearly there are plenty that do. And whether they are part of same-sex marriages or they just support them, I respectfully disagree.’
Arrington said he is a ‘rule of law guy’ and compared the Supreme Court’s decision on gay marriage to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that constitutionally protected a woman’s right to abortion for nearly half a century.
‘Just like with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, that’s the new law of the land. There are a lot of Democrats that have problems with that philosophically, and they’re gonna express that.’
The Texas Republican, a Christian, said he may have his ‘philosophical differences on what defines marriage, but the court has spoken.’
‘I’m going to honor that, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna change my values and my beliefs on what defines marriage,’ Arrington said. ‘To me, there are higher laws than the laws of our country, and those spiritual laws that I follow supersede them.’
Several House Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital agreed with Arrington’s sentiment that while they might disagree with gay marriage, they have accepted the ruling as the law of the land.
‘If you ask Cory as Cory, a person who believes that our Constitution was framed upon our Christian, Shenandoah beliefs, then it’s very clear that marriage can only exist between a man and a woman,’ Rep. Cory Mills, R-Florida, said.
But Mills added, ‘I don’t see where the federal government should be involved in everyone’s bedroom.’
Republican lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital also emphasized it’s a personal choice.
Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio, said he is a devout Roman Catholic, so he doesn’t personally believe in gay marriage.
‘But I do believe we live in America, and when you’re over 18, you have a right to choose,’ Rulli said. ‘We always support when the Supreme Court has a ruling like that.’
‘Quite frankly, we all have to make our own choices,’ Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., said.’Not everybody believes that it’s a Christian value.’
Like many of his Republican colleagues, McCormick clarified that, despite his personal Christian beliefs, ‘The Supreme Court has decided on that, and I stick to that.’