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.
Mental health providers licensed in Texas are barred from offering therapy that could be interpreted as assisting minors in transitioning, according to a legal opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In the February 27 opinion, Paxton responded to an inquiry from Darrel Spinks, executive director of the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council, about whether a 2023 law applies to licensed therapists and counselors.
The law, Senate Bill 14, bans health care providers from providing or facilitating treatments for minors -- including puberty blockers, hormones, or surgical interventions -- intended to help them medically transition. It also prohibits public funds, including Medicaid, from covering the cost of transition-related care.
Republican lawmakers in Kansas have voted to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of a sweeping anti-transgender bill.
The measure, approved by both chambers earlier this month, invalidates driver's licenses and birth certificates that reflect a transgender person's gender identity rather than their assigned sex at birth. It also bars people from using restrooms that do not align with that assigned sex and bans multi-stall unisex bathrooms.
While the original House bill focused on prohibiting gender markers that align with a person's gender identity on identification documents, Republicans employed a procedural maneuver known as “gut and go” -- inserting the House language into a previously approved Senate bill -- to add the restroom restrictions.
Malaysia has blocked access to queer dating apps Grindr and Blued as part of an ongoing crackdown on LGBTQ visibility in the Muslim-majority nation, where same-sex acts are criminalized.
The communications ministry said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the nation’s internet regulator, is examining legislative measures to curb the apps, according to the South China Morning Post.
Those plans were outlined in a reply to a parliamentary inquiry from Padang Terap MP Nurul Amin Hamid, who asked whether the MCMC would work with app store providers to block downloads of Grindr, Blued, and Growlr, The Star reported. Hamid claimed the apps had become a primary platform for promoting "deviant" relationships.
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