Amy Coney Barrett – Photo: United States Supreme Court
In her first televised interview since her 2020 confirmation, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett appeared on CBS Sunday Morning to promote her new book, offering only vague commentary to host Norah O’Donnell in defense of the Court’s legitimacy when asked whether justices might overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.
Barrett was pressed on recent remarks from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told the Raging Moderates podcast that the Court will likely “do to gay marriage what they did to abortion” and “send it back to the states.”
Clinton was pointing to the Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade and held that abortion rights are not guaranteed under the Constitution.
Asked to respond to Clinton’s comments, Barrett said, “I think people who criticize the court, or who are outside the court, say a lot of different things […] we have to tune those things out.”
The Supreme Court faces historically low approval among the American public. A September 2025 Pew poll found just 48% of Americans view the institution favorably, its lowest rating ever. A Gallup survey in July recorded even weaker support, with approval at only 39%.
Barrett is not seen as a guaranteed vote to overturn Obergefell. Many outlets describe her instead as a potential swing justice if the issue comes before the Court.
During the interview, O’Donnell noted a passage in Barrett’s book where she describes “the rights to marry” as “fundamental,” contrasting them with the “complicated moral debate” over abortion. Barrett was among the five justices who voted to overturn Roe.
Still, Barrett has pointed to Chief Justice John Roberts’ dissent in Obergefell. In a November 2016 lecture before joining the Court, she told an audience his dissent argued that “those who want same-sex marriage, you have every right to lobby in state legislatures to make that happen, but the dissent’s view was that it wasn’t for the court to decide.”
She then hinted the door could be open to overturning the ruling, telling the same audience, “I think Obergefell, and what we’re talking about for the future of the court, it’s really a who decides question.”
The Supreme Court will soon decide whether to hear a case that could return same-sex marriage to the states. The petition was filed in August by Kim Davis, the former Kentucky clerk who gained international attention for refusing marriage licenses to same-sex couples after Obergefell.
The Dallas Landmark Commission unanimously approved rainbow-colored steps outside Oak Lawn United Methodist Church as a temporary art installation, allowing the display to remain for up to three years despite objections that they violate historic preservation codes.
As a designated historic site, Oak Lawn United Methodist Church is required to seek city approval before making major exterior changes, including paint colors, according to Dallas-area PBS/NPR affiliate KERA.
The LGBTQ-welcoming church did not submit an application to the landmark commission before repainting its exterior steps in the colors of the "Progress Pride" flag, incorporating the traditional rainbow along with black and brown stripes and the blue, pink, and white of the transgender Pride flag.
Alexandria City Councilman R. Kirk McPike won Tuesday’s Democratic firehouse primary for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.
The openly gay McPike, who works as chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), secured 60.5% of the vote in the four-way race among Democrats in the 5th House District.
Eileen Cassidy Rivera, a former Alexandria City School Board member, placed second, finishing ahead of criminal defense attorney Chris Leibig and Gregory Darrall, an openly gay teacher and labor leader.
Congressional lawmakers have approved a measure that would bar Medicaid -- the federal health insurance program for low-income Americans -- from covering gender-affirming care, including hormonal and surgical interventions, for minors.
The "Do No Harm in Medicaid Act," sponsored by U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), is the third in a series of Republican-backed efforts to block people under 18 from accessing medical treatments that assist in a gender transition.
The measure passed by a 215-201 vote, with four Democrats -- Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Don Davis (N.C.) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) -- joining Republicans in support of the ban.
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