Ten Years of Gay Marriage: Will the Supreme Court Revisit This?

How the Supreme Court Redefined Marriage

In June of 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples had a constitutional right to marry. This decision struck down state laws that had defined marriage as only between one man and one woman. For many, it was celebrated as a civil rights victory. But to others, it was a blow to the very foundation of marriage itself.

Chief Justice John Roberts, in his dissent, warned that the Court’s decision was a mistake because it bypassed the will of the people. He said, “Stealing this issue from the people will for many cast a cloud over same-sex marriage, making a dramatic social change that much more difficult to accept.” To critics, Obergefell was not about equality but about the Court imposing a radical social change that undermined the natural and religious meaning of marriage.

What Public Opinion Looked Like at the Time

Public opinion on same-sex marriage shifted rapidly in the years leading up to Obergefell. In 1996, Gallup found that just 27% of Americans supported it. By 2004, when President George W. Bush ran for reelection, 11 states passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage, and exit polls showed that only about one-quarter of Americans supported legalizing it. Even in 2008, California voters approved Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriage in their state.

When the Supreme Court made its ruling in 2015, the country was still divided. Support had only recently crossed the majority mark. Critics argued that redefining marriage in this way ignored the central role of children, family structure, and faith.

A Nation That Flipped in a Decade

Today, nearly 70% of Americans say they support same-sex marriage, according to Gallup. But this overall number hides deep divisions. Democrats’ support has climbed to 88%, and independents remain steady at 76%. Republicans, however, have shifted in the opposite direction. Support among Republicans dropped from a majority of 55% in 2021 and 2022 to just 41% this year, the lowest level since 2016. Gallup called this the “largest gap between Republicans and Democrats” on the issue since polling began nearly three decades ago.

On the moral question, Gallup found that 64% of Americans say same-sex relations are morally acceptable. Yet here again, partisans are moving in opposite directions. Eighty-six percent of Democrats agree, while only 38% of Republicans do, the lowest level for that group since 2012.

Religious Pushback and the Southern Baptist Resolution

Signs of a backlash are emerging. At their 2025 national meeting, Southern Baptist delegates overwhelmingly approved a resolution that called for “the overturning of laws and court rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges, that defy God’s design for marriage and family.” The resolution further urged legislators to pass laws that affirm marriage between one man and one woman.

Andrew Walker, a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, admitted that repealing Obergefell would be difficult, but said the denomination must push forward anyway. “I am clear-eyed about the difficulties and the headwinds in this resolution,” he told reporters, but he also emphasized that Obergefell was a “flawed decision” that Christians should resist.

The Kim Davis Appeal and Religious Liberty

Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who was jailed in 2015 for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, is now directly asking the Court to overturn Obergefell. In her appeal filed in July, she argued that her case is about protecting religious freedom. “If ever there was a case of exceptional importance, the first individual in the Republic’s history who was jailed for following her religious convictions regarding the historic definition of marriage, this should be it,” she told the justices.

Her case has become a rallying point for those who believe Obergefell trampled both the Constitution and the traditional understanding of marriage.

Warnings From the Court Itself

The possibility of Obergefell being overturned is not far-fetched. When the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022, Justice Clarence Thomas specifically wrote that the Court “should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents,” naming Obergefell among them. Justice Samuel Alito has also been openly critical of the 2015 decision.

The ideological makeup of the Court is different from a decade ago. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion in Obergefell, has since retired. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, another supporter of same-sex marriage, has also been replaced. Both were succeeded by more conservative justices. For opponents of Obergefell, this shift raises the possibility of a future reversal.

Supporters of same-sex marriage insist that the ruling has strengthened families. Mary Bonauto, one of the attorneys who argued the Obergefell case, said the decision was “transformative for so many people to be able to have a family that is recognized as a family under law.” She pointed to tax filing, health insurance, and adoption rights as examples of protections made possible by the ruling.

But even Bonauto admits that continued vigilance is needed. “That optimism also rests on continued vigilance since there are those who seek to undo it,” she said.

Critics argue that Obergefell stripped marriage of its true purpose. They see marriage as designed to unite men and women for the sake of family and society, not simply as a contract between individuals for personal recognition. To them, Obergefell was an attack on regular marriage, replacing a child-centered institution with an adult-centered one.

The cultural consequences are now being felt in debates over gender and family life. Religious conservatives argue that Obergefell opened the door to further distortions of moral truth. As one Southern Baptist leader explained, the goal must be “renewed moral clarity in public discourse regarding the crisis of declining fertility and for policies that support the bearing and raising of children within intact, married families.”

Ten years after the Supreme Court blessed same-sex marriage, the nation remains deeply divided. While public opinion seems settled, the political and religious undercurrents tell a different story. For millions of Americans, Obergefell was never legitimate, and the hope of overturning it has not gone away.

The future of marriage in America now depends not only on polls and public opinion but on the willingness of lawmakers, judges, and religious leaders to defend what they call God’s design for family. For those who believe marriage can only be between a man and a woman, the fight is far from over.

PB Editor: I would not have believed that anyone would challenge gay marriage after the Supreme Court made this ruling. And Trump has not indicated any particular preference for or against gay marriage. But many did indeed expect it, and the rumblings are there. Not sure where this will go, but the journey has not yet ended.

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