A leading Southern Baptist Convention spokesman has taken aim again at the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and author of the SBC’s constitutional amendment forbidding women as pastors in title or function, has a new social media reel filmed in front of the Supreme Court building. This is part of a series of social media reels Mohler has recorded at various Washington, D.C., landmarks with brief commentary on history and current events.
In this one, titled “Children are Greater than Obergefell,” he says the Supreme Court must overturn Obergefell v. Hodges for the sake of America’s children. But he does not make an explicit case about the connection between the high court decision and child welfare.
Pete Buttigieg with Jeffrey Goldberg in 2025.(Photo buy Mario Cantu/Cal Sport Media via AP Images)
However, the video was published the same day Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg announced he had been the victim of a false report of child abuse — against his own 4-year-twins — that appears to have been politically motivated. The former secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation was separated from his children for 24 hours while an investigation was undertaken.
“I don’t know how much we can do about it, but so help me God, if there is any way to press civil or criminal charges over this, we will,” Buttigieg wrote on Substack. “Not just for our own sakes but to draw a line that I thought everyone already recognized: Do not mess with someone’s kids.”
Mohler, meanwhile, is allied with a group called “Greater Than” that seeks to overturn Obergefell. One of that group’s three stated goals is “changing public opinion so Americans understand the link between natural marriage and child protection.”
While Mohler and other evangelical opponents of same-sex marriage claim these families are somehow harmful to children, no major social research supports their findings. Instead, major scientific and pediatric organizations find children raised by same-sex couples are just as safe, healthy and well-adjusted as those raised by heterosexual parents. Research emphasizes that a parent’s sexual orientation has no bearing on their ability to provide a loving and nurturing environment.”
Al Mohler speakingt in front of the U.S. Supreme Court buildihng (Screencap)
Mohler’s reel begins with ominous music playing, then the camera pans across to find him standing in front of the Supreme Court building.
“You can only stand here with a sense of history, also with a sense of gravity,” he says. “That you understand that some of the most important moments in American history in terms of how we actually operate and live as a society are traceable to decisions that were rendered in this building right behind me.
“I think of the 2015 Obergefell decision, and I just think about that horrible moment when the Supreme Court of the United States dared to say that marriage — the most basic institution of human civilization — can be redefined by judicial fiat so that a man can marry a man and a woman can marry a woman.
“We understand that our work is cut out for us. In 1973 the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down. We had to wait until 2022 for the Dobbs decision that reversed Roe. We have to hope that relief and reversal from the Obergefell decision can come a lot faster than that. That’s our hope. That’s our prayer. That has to be also our work and that’s because, well, children and their future is greater than any judgment rendered by this court. This court’s judgment must correspond to what is right and true, and we need to hold the court to it. History certainly will. Beyond that, we know that God will.”
Although evangelicals have sought to overturn Obergefell for the past decade, voters and the court itself have shown little appetite for such a reversal.
While the Supreme Court’s conservative majority has proved willing to overturn long-standing precedents like Roe, several safeguards make a reversal of Obergefell difficult. Chief among those is passage in 2022 of the Respect for Marriage Act, a federal law requiring all states to recognize valid same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. If Obergefell were overturned, couples still could travel to a state that allows same-sex marriage, and their legal status would be protected federally.
Also, same-sex marriage continues to enjoy strong public support, with 65% to 70% of Americans endorsing it. While overall support for same-sex marriage remains steady, support is falling among Republican voters, according to Gallup.
Last year, messengers to the SBC annual meeting adopted a resolution that calls for overturning Obergefell. The resolution links Obergefell to policies that “deny the biological reality of male and female are legal fictions, undermine the truth of God’s design, and lead to social confusion and injustice.”
Last week, the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission put out its own social media reel claiming it is not possible to be gay and a Christian or to be transgender and be a Christian.
According to PRRI: “Support for same-sex marriage is higher today than a decade ago, although support has slipped since its peak in 2022; most people of faith continue to support marriage equality.”
To date, the Supreme Court has declined all opportunities to revisit Obergefell.
Related:
Support for LGBTQ rights steady for most Americans
Mohler fronts campaign to overturn Obergefell
SBC says it’s not possible to be gay or transgender and Christian