On Monday, the Supreme Court denied a request from county clerk turned anti-gay gadfly Kim Davis to reconsider and overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision recognizing same-sex couples’ constitutional right to marry. There were no noted dissents. It is not remotely surprising that the justices turned away Davis’ petition: There probably aren’t five votes to reconsider Obergefell today—and even if there were, this zombie case would be a terrible vehicle for doing so. No one should assume that gay equality is safe at the Supreme Court. But for now, at least, the Republican-appointed justices seem to prefer indirect assaults on the rights of gay Americans over a head-on attack on their core constitutional freedoms.

For more from Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern: