Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf
Page Number: 67.0

28 

OBERGEFELL v. HODGES 

ROBERTS, C. J., dissenting 

religious practice.  The majority’s decision imposing same-
sex marriage cannot, of course, create any such accommo-
dations.  The  majority  graciously  suggests  that  religious
believers  may  continue  to  “advocate”  and  “teach”  their 
views  of  marriage.  Ante,  at  27.    The  First  Amendment 
guarantees,  however,  the  freedom  to  “exercise”  religion.
Ominously, that is not a word the majority uses. 

Hard  questions  arise  when  people  of  faith  exercise
religion in ways that may be seen to conflict with the new 
right  to  same-sex  marriage—when,  for  example,  a  reli-
gious  college  provides  married  student  housing  only  to 
opposite-sex  married  couples,  or  a  religious  adoption 
agency  declines  to  place  children  with  same-sex  married
couples.  Indeed,  the  Solicitor  General  candidly  acknowl-
edged  that  the  tax  exemptions  of  some  religious  institu-
tions would be in question if they opposed same-sex mar-
riage.  See Tr. of Oral Arg. on Question 1, at 36–38.  There 
is little doubt that these and similar questions will soon be 
before this Court.  Unfortunately, people of faith can take 
no comfort in the treatment they receive from the majority
today.

Perhaps the most discouraging aspect of today’s decision
is the extent to which the majority feels compelled to sully
those on the other side of the debate.  The majority offers a
cursory  assurance  that  it  does  not  intend  to  disparage 
people who, as a matter of conscience, cannot accept same-
sex  marriage.    Ante,  at  19.    That  disclaimer  is  hard  to 
square with the very next sentence, in which the majority 
explains  that  “the  necessary  consequence”  of  laws  codify-
ing  the  traditional  definition  of  marriage  is  to  “demea[n]
or stigmatiz[e]” same-sex couples.  Ante, at 19.  The major-
ity reiterates such characterizations over and over.  By the 
majority’s account, Americans who did nothing more than 
follow the understanding of marriage that has existed for 
our  entire  history—in  particular,  the  tens  of  millions  of 
people who voted to reaffirm their States’ enduring defini-