Republican state Sen. Dusty Deevers introduced a resolution urging the Supreme Court to revisit Obergefell, allowing elected branches of government to define marriage again.
OKLAHOMA CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Republican state Sen. Dusty Deevers introduced a resolution hoping to make Oklahoma the latest state to call on the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit Obergefell v. Hodges and undo the forced acceptance of same-sex “marriage” across the land.
“In 2004, the people of Oklahoma affirmed State Question 711, now codified in the Oklahoma Constitution, Article II, Section 35, with over 75% of Oklahomans voting to recognize marriage as the union of one man and one woman, prohibit marriage benefits for unmarried individuals, invalidate same-sex marriages from other states, and make issuing licenses in violation of subsection C of such section a misdemeanor,” the resolution reads. “Obergefell arbitrarily and unjustly rejected and prohibited states from recognizing this definition of marriage in favor of its own definition of marriage and a novel, flawed interpretation of key clauses within the United States Constitution and our nation’s legal and cultural precedents.”
Therefore, “the Oklahoma Legislature hereby urges the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn its unconstitutional holding in Obergefell v. Hodges and recognize that marriage is between one man and one woman, or to return full authority over marriage policy to the several states.”
“In Obergefell, SCOTUS sowed the seeds of the supposed interchangeability of the sexes and we have reaped radical gender ideology ever since,” Deevers said. “It is time for SCOTUS to cease its war against nature and nature's God.”
Meanwhile, at least half a dozen states have adopted similar resolutions urging the nation’s highest court to revere Obergefell. They have no legal force and they cannot begin any legal battle that could eventually put the issue back before the nation’s highest court, but they raise awareness of an issue that, while long since declared “settled” by the establishments of both parties, set the stage for today’s battles over transgenderism, surrogacy, and religious freedom.
Thirty-two states still have duly enacted same-sex “marriage” bans on the books, according to World Population Review (which lists 33 but has not yet been updated to reflect Colorado’s recent repeal of their unenforced ban), all of which are blocked from enforcement. Only 18 states plus the District of Columbia have no ban in place.
As a practical matter, even if the Supreme Court reversed its ruling and forced all 50 states to recognize homosexual unions as marriages, recognition of same-sex “marriage” would still be mandatory nationwide, thanks to former President Joe Biden signing the so-called Respect for Marriage Act, which codified Obergefell, in 2023.
Three of the current sitting justices – Chief Justice John Roberts and conservatives Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito – dissented from Obergefell. The latter two are considered reliable votes to overturn if the chance arises, given statements both have made in the years since. But it is less certain how Roberts and the Court’s three recent Republican appointees would rule, given past statements about deferring to precedent and their mixed records on cases important to conservatives.
Social conservatives are likely to have an uphill battle on the issue for the foreseeable future. In July 2024, the Republican Party adopted a dramatically shortened national platform with various changes sought by returned President Donald Trump. Among them was removing language declaring that “Traditional marriage and family, based on marriage between one man and one woman, is the foundation for a free society,” and calling for that understanding to be reflected in law, including with the “reversal” of Obergefell as judicial activism.
