Over the last couple of months, new proposed policies across all levels of government have affected the LGBTQ+ community. This came to a head at the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas. This year, an unprecedented rise in opposition to same-sex marriage occurred during the convention. Southern Baptists backed up efforts to overturn the United States Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges. This allows for same-sex marriage federally in the U.S. With the 10-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision coming up on June 26th, tensions are at a high.
Last week, I met with Haley Norris, who works for The Center for American Progress (CAP). Norris and I discussed the recent wave of policies, including the most recent news story of Southern Baptists endorsing efforts to overturn same-sex marriage.
“It worries me because politicians think either this is an effective messaging or campaign strategy for them, or they think that they have enough support either from their constituents or in whatever chamber in terms of ‘will marriage go away?’ Norris said.
“I’m less worried about that in the immediate short term because the process for undoing same-sex marriage in the United States is complicated. Because it’s a Supreme Court decision,” Norris said. “I think it’s really important for us right now as a community to be able to think realistically. Will this come to anything? Also, will it come to an immediate policy change that will impact me, or is this more rhetorical for another political actor? How can I respond in a way that doesn’t give this person more power over me? What tools do I have to propose alternatives? Or where can I put my energy that lifts up my community or supports folks in indirect ways?”
Who knows what will happen to same-sex marriage in the future? But this rise isn’t new. Back in late January of this year, Idaho called on SCOTUS to ban gay marriage and stated that, “marriage as an institution has been recognized as the union of one man and one woman for more than two thousand years.”
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