On June 26, 2015, gay marriage was legalized in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, and equal marriage was supposedly the law of the land but not for Alabama judge, Roy Moore.

On January 6, 2015, Judge Roy Moore mandated that Alabama probate judges shall not issue marriage licenses towards gay couples in compliance to Alabama’s 774th amendment, which defined that marriage is solely between a man and a woman.

Judge Roy Moore is currently Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and most famously known for having a Ten Commandments monument in the Supreme Court building.

Many Alabama counties either followed Obergefell and continued to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, while others stopped issuing them all together, or stopped issuing them to gay couples. This is what Madison County did.

The decision by Moore ultimately caused dissatisfaction, and many protested outside the Madison County courthouse in defiance to Moore’s orders.

According to a Google Forms poll taken by 130 Bob Jones students of various grade levels, 62.3% of these students believe that gay marriage should be legal.

The age old question still stands: “Does the federal or state government have the power?”

Bob Jones sophomore Kenzie Smith said, “I don’t think they [Alabama marriage licenses offices]  should have followed it [Judge Roy Moore’s rulings] because like I said, it’s very, very illegal.”

In September of 2015, Kentuckian and Rowan County clerk Kim Davis was jailed for refusing to provide a gay couple a marriage license, in direct defiance of Obergefell v. Hodges.

AP Government teacher Mr. Wright said, “Alabama was not bound to the same court order as Kentucky.”

In the Obergefell case, they ordered gay marriage to be legal due to the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, but many argue that those like Kim Davis are protected under the First Amendment.

Laws that protect religious freedom and protect against discrimination are often tested in such an instance, such as the Colorado baker who refused to make a cake for a gay wedding

As of January 7th, gay couples can now be legally married in a Madison County courthouse.

The future of LGBTQ+ rights in Alabama still has a long way to go, but it has definitely has progressed in the past few years.