The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a case challenging the decade-old landmark ruling granting a constitutional right nationwide to same-sex marriage.
The conservative-dominated court, as is customary, did not provide any explanation for its decision to reject the case.
Kim Davis, a former county clerk in Kentucky who defied a court order and refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, had asked the court to overturn its decision legalizing gay marriage.
Davis was ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and legal fees to a gay couple who were among those she refused a marriage license.
Conservatives have a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court. Davis’s appeal of the award had raised concerns among the LGBTQ+ community that the court, which struck down the constitutional right to abortion three years ago, may agree to revisit the decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
At least four votes would have been needed for the top court, which includes three appointees of Republican President Donald Trump, to agree to hear Davis’s appeal.
There were no dissents to the court’s unsigned order declining to accept the case.
Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, welcomed the court’s decision not to hear the case brought by Davis, who had cited her Christian religious beliefs for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
“Today, love won again,” Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“When public officials take an oath to serve their communities, that promise extends to everyone —- including LGBTQ+ people,” Robinson said.
“The Supreme Court made clear today that refusing to respect the constitutional rights of others does not come without consequences.”
Lambda Legal, another LGBTQ+ advocacy group, also welcomed the Supreme Court decision but warned that same-sex marriage would continue to come under attack from opponents.
“This frivolous case now belongs in the trash bin of history. But let’s not be naive: our opponents are well-resourced and determined,” Lambda Legal chief executive Kevin Jennings said in a statement.
“They will keep trying to undo the progress we’ve made,” Jennings said. “Now is not the time to let down our guard.”
There are more than 820,000 married same-sex couples in the United States, according to the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, more than double the number in June 2015, when the Supreme Court extended marriage equality nationwide.