Voters in three Western states will consider ballot measures this November to repeal marriage amendments previously approved by voters. These measures would add redundant legal fortifications to same-sex marriage in anticipation of the day when the current cultural juggernaut consumes its final momentum.
The state ballot measures would have no immediate effect on policy, due to the double-layered federal protection that same-sex marriage currently enjoys. The Supreme Court rendered state constitutional provisions defining marriage as one man and one woman unenforceable when its Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) decision unilaterally legalized same-sex marriage. Then in 2022, the U.S. Congress passed the so-called Respect for Marriage Act, which requires all states to recognize any marriage recognized in any other state.
However, pro-LGBTQ+ activists want to remove the…
