Eleven years ago today, the US Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. Overnight, the 5-4 decision changed the definition of marriage in the United States. Since then, homosexual “marriages” have been the law of the land. Today, according to Gallup, almost two-thirds of Americans favor homosexual “marriage,” which is a reminder of the morally formative power of the law.
Obergefell was a terrible decision in 2015, and it remains so today. The ruling rejects how marriage has been understood in Western culture for millennia. It violates the natural law that is revealed in the created order and is written on the hearts of all people. It conjures a constitutional right on the basis of poor legal reasoning, shifting cultural mores and relentless progressive activism. Most important for believers, it’s incompatible with God’s authoritative special revelation in Scripture.
The ruling was also unjust. While the law now affirms the desire of some homosexuals to validate their intimate relationships with the legal trappings of marriage, it fails to protect the most vulnerable among us. A growing number of studies demonstrate that children raised by same-sex parents aren’t flourishing as much as children raised in traditional families. Children in same-sex households suffer from higher rates of depression. The rates of sexual abuse are also higher than the national average. While these studies are dismissed by organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association, we should remember these same groups – for reasons rooted in ideology rather than science – also support transgender procedures for children. The kids are not OK.
While some “married” homosexual couples adopt, others acquire children through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and/or surrogacy. Christians often raise ethical concerns about these procedures. As the Southern Baptist Convention said in a 2024 resolution on reproductive technologies, IVF “routinely generates more embryos than can be safely implanted, thus resulting in the continued freezing, stockpiling, and ultimate destruction of human embryos, some of whom may also be subjected to medical experimentation.” Furthermore, IVF “often participates in the destruction of embryonic human life and increasingly engages in dehumanizing methods for determining suitability for life and genetic sorting, based on notions of genetic fitness and parental preferences.”
As for surrogacy, which normally relies upon IVF, Christian ethicists object that it undermines the sanctity of human life, artificially severs the relationship between sex and procreation within the covenant of marriage and commodifies human beings. While many heterosexual couples also participate in these morally questionable procedures, the necessarily sterile nature of a homosexual “marriage” necessitates them. There is no natural pathway for homosexuals to procreate.
The temptation is for Christians to make peace with Obergefell. America is a pluralistic nation, after all. Besides, the Constitution guarantees our freedom to object to homosexual “marriage” on religious grounds, to advocate for our views publicly (like I’m doing with this column), and to teach our beliefs to others. But even if we continue to enjoy that religious liberty – which is no guarantee, since the same courts that invent constitutional rights to homosexual “marriage” can also decide just as arbitrarily that there is no constitutional right to dissent on religious grounds – it would be a mistake for believers to stand down. If we agree with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 that “God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society,” then we cannot remain silent.
Christians should work actively for the overturning of Obergefell as the first step in reversing the tide on homosexual “marriage.” That may seem like a tall order in 2026. But just because something is legal, and even popular, doesn’t make it right. There was a time when chattel slavery was legal. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Dredd Scott v. Sanford (1857) that Americans of African descent were not citizens, and later decided in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that racial segregation was constitutional. Today, we rightly agree that those formerly legal practices are morally reprehensible. The same holds true for legalized homosexual “marriage.”
There is recent precedent for a pathway forward. For decades, Christians labored for the reversal of Roe v. Wade. We voted for politicians whom we trusted to appoint judges that would not impose progressive ideology on the text of the Constitution. We supported federal and state legislation that chipped away at the culture of death. We championed pregnancy support centers as an alternative to abortion clinics. And we prayed without ceasing for Roe to be overturned. With the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization(2022), that finally happened. Our advocacy for the sanctity of human life continues, though the abortion industrial complex no longer enjoys the cover of an unjust legal ruling.
These pro-life victories serve as a reminder that things can change. In the same way that believers advocated for the overturning of Roe, even when it seemed to many observers to be unlikely, we must do the same with Obergefell. The stakes are simply too high to let bad decisions remain permanent decisions. So, let’s pray and get to work.
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