Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican,
on Saturday criticized the Supreme Court's 2015 ruling in Obergefell.
In its decision, the high court found
that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.
“Obergefell, like Roe v.
Wade, ignored two centuries of our nation's history," Cruz
said. "Marriage was always an issue that was left to the states.
We saw states before Obergefell, some states were moving to
allow gay marriage, other states were moving to allow civil
partnerships. There were different standards that the states were
adopting."
"The way the Constitution set up
for you to advance that position is convince your fellow citizens,
that if you succeeded in convincing your fellow citizens, then your
state would change the laws to reflect those views. In Obergefell,
the court said, 'No, we know better than you guys do, and now every
state must, must sanction and permit gay marriage.'"
"I think that decision was clearly
wrong when it was decided. It was the court overreaching,” Cruz
said in a clip from his podcast.
Cruz's remarks come just weeks after
the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Cruz is a vocal opponent of LGBTQ
rights, including same-sex marriage.
In 2015, Cruz called the high court's
ruling in Obergefell “lawless.” And in running for the
2016 GOP presidential nomination, Cruz promised to support a
constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual unions.