Oklahoma state Republican Sen. Dusty Deevers introduced on May 1 a resolution calling for the U.S. Supreme Court to recognize that "marriage is between one man and one woman," Newsweek reported.
The resolution stands as a challenge to the Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision establishing a right to gay marriage.
Already in states such as Idaho and Montana, conservative lawmakers have introduced pieces of legislation calling for the Supreme Court to overturn the decision.
The proposal states that the Obergefell v. Hodges decision "conflicts with the original public meaning of the United States Constitution, the principles upon which the United States is established, and the deeply rooted history and tradition of the United States regarding the nature of marriage and state powers."
It also makes note that in 2004, Oklahoma approved and codified into its state constitution, State Question 711, which recognizes "marriage as the union of one man and one woman," prohibits "marriage benefits for unmarried individuals," and invalidates "same-sex marriages from other states."
However, in 2014, U.S. District Judge Terence Kern struck down the ban on same-sex marriage in Oklahoma, stating it "violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by precluding same-sex couples from receiving an Oklahoma marriage license."
On Monday, Deevers called for the "Overturn" of "Obergefell" on X, writing, "In Obergefell, SCOTUS sowed the seeds of the supposed interchangeability of the sexes and we have reaped radical gender ideology ever since. It is time for SCOTUS to cease its war against nature and nature's God. It is time to overturn Obergefell."
Meanwhile, state Democrat Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt told The Oklahoman, "All Oklahomans have the right to love whom they love in peace without state interference. It is a waste of legislative time to attempt to roll back these rights that so many fought long and hard for."
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School professor Kate Shaw suggested to Newsweek that such resolutions from lawmakers seem "purely symbolic."
"But," she noted, "if a state sought to go further — to pass or enforce a law that limited marriage to opposite-sex couples, in clear violation of Obergefell — a challenge to that law could quickly make its way to the Supreme Court."
Nick Koutsobinas ✉
Nick Koutsobinas, a Newsmax writer, has years of news reporting experience. A graduate from Missouri State University’s philosophy program, he focuses on exposing corruption and censorship.
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