U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) holds a news conference with leaders of the “Convoy of the People,” outside the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, U.S., May 10. 3 year 2022.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Saturday that Supreme Court It is “clearly wrong” and “excessive” to legalize same-sex marriage nationally in the landmark 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
Comment from Cruz, who has open about his concerns in another presidential run, which came just weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade’s decision that guarantees the constitutional right to abortion.
Cruz, a longtime same-sex marriage opponent who believes both issues should be left to the states, echoed the view of conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who argued in the my consent Roe opinion that the court “should revisit” past rulings, including Obergefell, as well as opinions defending same-sex intimacy and contraception.
“Obergefell, like Roe v. Wade, ignores two centuries of our nation’s history,” Cruz said on his podcast, Judgment with Ted Cruz. “Marriage has always been a matter of being left to the states. We’ve seen states before Obergefell – some have moved to allow same-sex marriage, others have moved to allow civil partnerships. There are different standards that the states are adopting.”
“The way the Constitution sets you up for that promotion is to convince your fellow citizens that if you succeed in convincing your fellow citizens, your state will change its laws to reflect those views. The court said we now know better than you, and now every state must sanction and allow same-sex marriage,” Cruz continued.
“I think that decision was clearly wrong when it was decided. It was the court that overreacted.”
As the Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Roe this year, fears are raised that it could also overturn the precedent set in Obergefell prompted some state legislators include same-sex marriage in state law.
