From exemptions to censorship: religious liberty and victimhood in Obergefell v. Hodges |
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| Authors: | Calvin R Coker |
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| Institution: | Department of Communication, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA |
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| Abstract: | This article analyzes the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, showing that a subset of the dissent constructed devout religious groups as victims to rearticulate power relations between the state, LGBT groups, and religious entities. This rearticulation is possible as a consequence of ambiguity in the legal concept of religious liberty, which is explored in depth. That ambiguity is employed to mount an argument against the decision, moving LGBT individuals from oppressed to oppressor of religious groups. The study contextualizes this inversion against the material and symbolic conditions of both the LGBT and devout Christian communities in the United States. |
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| Keywords: | Obergefell v Hodges religious liberty victimhood legal rhetoric dissent |
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