Samuel Alito blames marriage equality for America’s ‘decisive’ turn ‘against religious liberty’

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito says the ruling legalizing marriage equality nationwide marked “perhaps the decisive point” in America’s turn “against religious liberty.”

In his new book So Ordered, Alito focuses on Obergefell v. Hodges. The 5-4 decision was a landmark in civil rights, establishing a constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry nationwide. But Alito, who dissented from the 2015 ruling, portrays it as a turning point against religious freedom.

Related: Samuel Alito 'not suggesting' marriage equality should be overturned

The book collects 19 speeches Alito delivered to groups across the country, including his reflections on Obergefell’s legacy. In those remarks, he suggested that treating religious opposition to same-sex marriage as bigotry could push believers out of public life. ABC News published excerpts from the collection.

“I expressed my worry that equating the expression of certain views with bigotry — or, if you like, with dignitary harm — would drive believers out of public life,” Alito said in a 2018 address to a Catholic group.

Four years later, he suggested his fears had materialized. “Quite suddenly, religious liberty has become controversial,” Alito told the Magnificat Foundation in 2022.

Despite the Supreme Court’s increasingly conservative makeup, Obergefell remains intact. In November 2025, the court declined to hear an appeal from former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the 2015 ruling. Her attorneys had asked the justices to use her case to overturn Obergefell. The court rejected the appeal.

In 2022, then-President Joe Biden signed a law providing federal recognition of valid same-sex marriages and requiring states to recognize those performed legally in other states. The Respect for Marriage Act offers protections if Obergefell is overturned, but it would not require every state to continue issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The legislation followed the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which had protected abortion rights for nearly 50 years. That reversal heightened concerns about the future of other constitutional protections, including marriage equality.

Alito points to disputes involving LGBTQ+ rights as evidence that “support for religious liberty has cratered.” He cites cases involving businesses seeking religious exemptions from requirements governing services for same-sex couples or employee health coverage, including those that refuse to provide wedding services to gay couples or seek to limit health care for employees based on religious beliefs.

Alito told CBS News he had considered retirement but decided to remain on the court.