U.S. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito on Monday released a statement criticizing Obergefell, the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that found gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.

The voluntary statement came in response to the court's denial to review a case involving Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who in response to Obergefell refused to issue marriage licenses, saying that she had religious objections to same-sex marriage.

The statement was written by Thomas and co-signed by Alito.

Thomas wrote that Davis' case “provides a stark reminder of the consequences of Obergefell.”

“By choosing to privilege a novel constitutional right over the religious liberty interests explicitly protected in the First Amendment, and by doing so undemocratically, the Court has created a problem that only it can fix,” Thomas wrote. “Until then, Obergefell will continue to have ‘ruinous consequences for religious liberty.’”

“It would be one thing if recognition for same-sex marriage had been debated and adopted through the democratic process, with the people deciding not to provide statutory protections for religious liberty under state law,” Thomas said. “But it is quite another when the Court forces that choice upon society through its creation of atextual constitutional rights and its ungenerous interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause, leaving those with religious objections in the lurch.”

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, said that Thomas and Alito had “renewed their war on LGBTQ rights and marriage equality,” adding that they could “water down” marriage equality with the addition of Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump's conservative nominee to fill the court's vacancy created by the recent death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who played a pivotal role in LGBT rights cases before the court.

“This morning, Justices Thomas and Alito renewed their war on LGBTQ rights and marriage equality, as the court hangs in the balance,” HRC President Alphonso David said in a statement. “The language related to this denial of certiorari proves yet again that a segment of the Court views LGBTQ rights as ‘ruinous’ and remains dead set against protecting and preserving the rights of LGBTQ peoples. Joined by a potential new far-right anti-equality extremist Amy Coney Barrett, the Court could significantly water down what marriage equality means for LGBTQ couples across the nation.”

LGBT law group Lambda Legal said in a statement that “the nightmare of a hostile Supreme Court majority is already here.”

“The confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett haven't even started yet and Justices Thomas and Alito are already creating a laundry list of cases they want to overturn,” Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings said. “And unsurprisingly, marriage equality is first on the chopping block. Confirming Judge Barrett would be the final puzzle piece they need in order to make it happen.”