I told you GOP would come for marriage. Southern Baptists just proved my point. | Opinion
The majority of Americans support marriage equality for LGBTQ+ people. Republicans don't seem to care about that.
- The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., passed a resolution opposing same-sex marriage and transgender rights.
- This resolution aligns with efforts by some Republicans to overturn the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage.
- While public support for same-sex marriage remains high overall, support among Republicans has declined in recent years.
Southern Baptists are officially taking a stand against LGBTQ+ rights, sending a concerning signal about where the country could be headed.
On June 10, thousands of pastors and members of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination voted on a resolution to support efforts to overturn same-sex marriage. Along with opposing gay marriage, the resolution calls for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, rails against “transgender ideology” and opposes commercial surrogacy.
That’s a lot of animosity packed into one declaration. But it's one that Republicans seem increasingly interested in supporting.
What’s scary is that there are now efforts to bring same-sex marriage back to the Supreme Court with the intention of overturning Obergefell v. Hodges. Republicans in the Idaho House of Representatives has passed a resolution to ask the Supreme Court to overturn the decade-old ruling.
Eight other state legislatures introduced similar measures affecting the legality of same-sex marriage.
It's not just outrageous that so many legislative officials are trying to do away with gay marriage. It’s terrifying to the LGBTQ+ people you know. The Southern Baptist resolution is a harrowing sign of the legal fight that could be around the corner.
Polling says gay marriage is popular. Do Republicans care?
Same-sex marriage still has majority support in the United States, according to polling.
In a Gallup survey conducted in May 2025 , 68% of respondents say same-sex marriages should have the same rights as traditional marriages, compared with 29% of people who disagreed.
While that’s a hopeful number, there are some caveats. Support for gay marriage has decreased from 71% in 2023.
Republican support has dropped to 41% from 55% in 2021 and 2022, and is now the lowest it’s been since 2016.
Now that a denomination with nearly 13 million members is coming out against gay marriage, I fear that we will continue to see a decline in support.
Even if gay marriage retains support, the Supreme Court already went against popular opinion when it overturned Roe v. Wade. In his opinion on that issue, Justice Clarence Thomas said he believed the court should reconsider Obergefell. He said the quiet part out loud.
What happened to 'love thy neighbor'? Guess not if they're LGBTQ?
While I grew up within a different denomination, my childhood in North Carolina was spent around Southern Baptists. I have attended their services; I have been to their funerals. I know LGBTQ+ people who were raised in their churches, and my heart breaks for them and their families.
While Christianity has become burdened by dogma and interpretations, the most important lesson, the one that is universal, regardless of your denomination, is that you're supposed to love your neighbor as you love yourself. To me, this means wanting them to have the same rights as you have, including in your marriage.
It is shameful that Southern Baptists have lost sight of this message and instead want to advocate for fewer rights for LGBTQ+ people. But it's not surprising given where Trump's Republican Party is trending on the topic.
Follow Paste BN columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter: @sara__pequeno