Monday’s Supreme Court decision to deny a request to overturn its ruling that legalized same-sex marriage drew sighs of relief from same-sex couples in Mississippi.

“I’m relieved the Supreme Court let this one go,” said Kyle Harshey, who is married to the Rev. Christopher McAbee, associate rector at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Jackson. “I don’t believe the person you love is up for debate.”

More than two-thirds of Americans say that same-sex couples deserve the same rights and protections as people in traditional marriages, according to Gallup polling. Among Democrats, that support has risen this year to its highest level, 88%, while the support among Republicans has fallen from 55% in 2021 to 41% this year.

In Mississippi, support for same-sex marriage is 54%, according to a 2024 report by the Public Religion Research Institute, but the state is also home to nearly 6,000 same-sex marriages, according to 2020 U.S. Census data. 

In June, the Mississippi Baptist Convention passed a resolution calling for the Supreme Court to reverse its decision on same-sex marriage, just as justices did in reversing its historic ruling on abortion.

The Rev. Shawn Parker, executive director of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, said they are disappointed the Supreme Court didn’t take up the issue.

“Our convictions are that everybody should be treated with kindness, but we believe that God designed marriage for a man and a woman for life,” he said. “That serves as the context for raising children. That serves as the fabric of society.”

While there is a legal aspect to marriage, the convention’s concerns center on the sanctity of marriage, he said. “It was ordained by God in the beginning.”

These days, society disregards “God, the creator, more and more,” he said. “We’re becoming more self-focused, which is detrimental to society and ultimately detrimental to each of us. We should be God-focused and other-focused.”

Everyone looks to an authority, he said. “That authority might be my own opinions, popular culture or science or some other source, but we choose to start with the authority of God as the creator and his word and his revelation.”

The Catholic Church remains opposed to same-sex marriage, but the late Pope Francis in 2023 allowed priests to bless same-sex couples in a pastoral capacity for individuals who love one another.

The United Methodist Church in 2024 repealed its prohibitions on its ministers officiating at same-sex weddings, a factor that has led to more than 6,000 congregations leaving the denomination.

The Episcopal Church has been performing same-sex marriages since 2015. Harshey and McAbee married three years later.

McAbee said he and many others are elated over the Supreme Court decision. “I’m also feeling that it’s very important for us in the LGBTQ community to not gloat in our victory, but to remember there are so many other Americans facing injustices,” he said.

Many are being hurt by health care cuts, and “undocumented people are being terrorized by ICE,” he said.

It is a time to pause for thanksgiving, “but also a moment to remind myself that this is part of an effort to create justice for all people,” he said.

On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the petition filed by Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who drew national attention for refusing to issue same-sex licenses because of her religious beliefs. She defied court orders to issue these licenses until a federal judge jailed her for contempt of court. In 2018, she lost a reelection bid.

She wanted justices to overturn an order that has required her to pay more than $300,000 in damages to the couple denied the marriage license. She also wanted the Supreme Court to overturn its 2015 same-sex marriage ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.

Justice Clarence Thomas was among the four justices who dissented in that opinion. He has called for reversing that decision.

Harshey said he believes Davis’ religious beliefs present “a distorted view of Christianity,” which in reality are a “shield for discrimination,” he said.

While he is “personally thankful” for the outcome, he said Monday’s action is far from the end because some justices still want to reverse the 2015 decision.

“I think we’re in a long-term fight over this.”