Same-sex marriage plaintiff Jim Obergefell doubts Trump claim it’s ‘settled law’
by Paul Karp, Guardian:
One of the plaintiffs in the landmark US marriage equality case doubts Donald Trump’s assurances that same-sex marriage is “settled law” that will not be revisited by the supreme court.
In comments to the Guardian, Jim Obergefell, who is in Australia to promote his co-authored book Love Wins about the case and its plaintiffs, also weighed into the Australian debate, warning against a popular vote that would allow a majority to deny the minority the right to same-sex marriage.
Trump told CBS’s 60 Minutes that he was “fine” with marriage equality “because it was already settled”, in comments in his first TV interview as US president-elect, aired on Sunday evening.
Asked whether he supported same-sex marriage, which was made law by the supreme court in Obergefell v Hodges in 2015, Trump suggested the case did not concern him to the degree of the abortion case Roe v Wade.
“It’s irrelevant,” he said, “Because it was already settled. It’s law. It was settled in the supreme court. I mean it’s done.”
“It’s hard to say exactly what Donald Trump truly believes, because he changes his story, left and right all the time,” Obergefell said.
“That’s a concern right there: does he really mean that, or is that what came out of mouth at that moment?”
Obergefell said Trump would “still nominate those opposed to marriage equality”.
“In general it’s a risk that those he would nominate, by virtue of their overall beliefs and judgments, would be those opposed to marriage equality and open to overturning it,” he said. “It’s part and parcel of the types of justices he would nominate.”
Obergefell said his biggest concern was that the vice-president-elect, Mike Pence, “is the most anti-LGBT politician I can think of”.
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