In a move that has sparked significant attention, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, is set to vote at its annual meeting in Dallas this week on a resolution aimed at overturning Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

This effort, reported by The New York Times on June 8, 2025, reflects a broader campaign by conservative evangelical activists to reverse what they view as a departure from traditional biblical values, drawing parallels to their successful decades-long fight to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.

The resolution, titled “On Restoring Moral Clarity through God’s Design for Gender, Marriage, and the Family,” calls on the SBC’s representatives—known as messengers—to actively work toward ending legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Authored by Andrew T. Walker, an ethicist at a Southern Baptist seminary in Kentucky and leader of the SBC’s resolution committee, the proposal frames the effort as a long-term strategy.

Walker emphasized learning from the 50-year campaign against Roe v. Wade, stating, “There are burgeoning embryonic efforts being discussed at the legal-strategy level on how to begin to challenge Obergefell.”

While the SBC has consistently opposed same-sex marriage, this vote marks the first time the denomination has explicitly asked its tens of thousands of member churches to mobilize against Obergefell.

The resolution does not represent the views of all 13 million SBC members but rather those of the approximately 10,000 messengers attending the annual meeting.

Nonetheless, the SBC’s actions are often seen as a bellwether for evangelical sentiment, given its size and influence within American Christianity.

Conservative Christian activists see their victory in overturning Roe v. Wade as a blueprint for challenging Obergefell.

The Dobbs v. Jackson decision, which ended federal abortion protections, was bolstered by coordinated efforts among religious groups, state legislatures, and legal strategists. Activists like Mathew Staver, chairman of the Liberty Counsel, are now applying similar tactics to same-sex marriage.

Staver, who has fought against gay marriage since states began legalizing it in 2004, is preparing to ask the Supreme Court to hear a case involving Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2015.

State-level efforts are also gaining traction. In 2025, resolutions calling for the reversal of Obergefell have passed in the Idaho House and been introduced in states like Michigan, Montana, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

Staver noted that these independent initiatives are beginning to foster coordination among ideologically aligned groups, mirroring the momentum that led to Roe’s downfall.