Most urgent · Marriage equality under threat
They Are Coming for Your Marriage.
Ten states have introduced legislation to overturn or restrict marriage equality in 2025–2026. 32 states have dormant bans that would reactivate if Obergefell is overturned.
Idaho
Obergefell resolution
Passed one chamber
Resolution urging Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.
South Carolina
Obergefell resolution
Introduced April 6, 2026
Resolution demanding Supreme Court overturn Obergefell.
Tennessee
Covenant marriage + sovereignty act
Active — dual bills
"Covenant marriage" bill plus "sovereignty act" asserting state control over marriage definition.
North Dakota
Obergefell resolution
House passed · Senate failed 16–31
Resolution passed the House. Defeated in Senate 16–31. Reintroduced.
Michigan
Obergefell resolution
Introduced · counter pending
Resolution urging overturn. Democrats counter-introduced 2026 ballot measure to lift Michigan's existing marriage ban.
Montana
Obergefell resolution
Introduced
Resolution urging the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell.
Missouri
Covenant marriage
Active
Bill privileging heterosexual marriages through a "covenant" track with reduced dissolution rights.
Oklahoma
Covenant marriage
Active
Bill privileging heterosexual marriages through covenant marriage framework.
Texas
Covenant marriage
Active
Bill privileging heterosexual marriages through covenant marriage framework.
South Dakota
Obergefell resolution
Killed in committee
Proposal sent to 41st Legislative Day — effectively killed in committee.
Context 01 — The Supreme Court
The court has already been formally asked.
Kim Davis petitioned the Supreme Court in August 2025 to overturn Obergefell — the first time since 2015 the court has been formally asked to do so. The Court declined to hear the case in late 2025. But the Southern Baptist Convention — the nation’s largest Protestant denomination — voted in June 2025 to make overturning Obergefell a top priority. Other challenges are working through federal courts.
Source: ABC News, August 2025 · GLAAD, 2025–2026
Context 02 — The Dormant Bans
32 states are one ruling away.
32 states have constitutional and/or legislative bans on same-sex marriage currently unenforceable because of Obergefell. If the ruling were overturned, approximately 60% of LGBTQ+ adults in the US live in states where their marriage rights would immediately be at risk. The Respect for Marriage Act (2022) requires states to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere — but does not prohibit states from enacting new bans going forward.
Source: Axios, June 2025 · Movement Advancement Project
Context 03 — Justice Thomas on the record
The clearest signal from the current court.
In his 2022 Dobbs concurrence, Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly wrote that the Court “should reconsider” Obergefell and Lawrence v. Texas, which decriminalized same-sex intimacy. He called them errors decided under substantive due process. No other justice joined that section of his opinion — but it is the clearest signal from the current court about vulnerability.
Source: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Thomas concurrence, 2022
Section 02
Active Bills by Category
Bills affecting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer people. Sources: ACLU 2026 tracker, GLAAD What’s At Stake 2025–2026.
Religious Exemptions
Discrimination Protections
Bills allowing employers, businesses, and hospitals to refuse service to LGBTQ+ people under religious exemption claims. These bills use "religious liberty" framing to authorize denial of housing, employment, healthcare, and services.
Marriage · Civil Unions
Marriage and Civil Union Restrictions
Obergefell resolutions, covenant marriage bills, and sovereignty acts. 10 states active in 2025–2026. See Section 1 above for the full state-by-state record.
Family Law
Adoption and Foster Care
Bills allowing state-licensed adoption and foster care agencies to refuse placement with same-sex couples based on religious grounds, effectively removing children from the pool of eligible homes.
Public Access
Public Accommodations
Bills restricting LGBTQ+ people in public spaces, businesses, and government services. Includes bills allowing private businesses to post "no LGBTQ+ customers" policies under religious exemption.
First Amendment
Expression Restrictions
Drag performance bans and restrictions on LGBTQ+ public expression. These bills affect the entire LGBTQ+ community — they are not trans-specific. Several have been struck down as unconstitutional but are being refiled.
Education
Curriculum Censorship
Bills banning discussion of LGBTQ+ identities, relationships, and sexual orientation in schools. Covers all sexual orientations — not trans-specific. Extends Don't Say Gay frameworks to higher grade levels and colleges.
State Preemption
Local Preemption
Bills blocking cities and counties from passing their own LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination ordinances, erasing protections that already exist in dozens of municipalities.
Section 03
The Bigger Picture
The strategy
Trans rights were the opening move. Marriage is the stated next target.
Trans rights have been the primary legislative target since 2020. But advocates and legislators are explicit that marriage equality is next. The same model legislation networks — Heritage Foundation, Alliance Defending Freedom, and ALEC — are behind both waves of legislation. In state after state, the bills share identical text under different sponsors. The coordinated character of this campaign is documented in floor debates, legal filings, and testimony.
“This is part of a trajectory — to attack transgender people first and then move on to gay and lesbian people to strip them of the right to marry.”
— Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, testimony March 2026 · Source: Michigan Advance, March 2026
Sources
ACLU Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights 2026Newsweek, March 2026ABC News, August 2025GLAAD What's At Stake 2025–2026Axios, June 2025LGBTQ Nation, February 2025 and April 2026Michigan Advance, March 2026Movement Advancement ProjectLambda LegalDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Thomas concurrence, 2022NBC News via Newsweek
Not legal advice. Updated April 2026.