A decade after the Supreme Court legalized same‑sex marriage in Obergefell, advocates in Ohio—the state where the case first took shape—are sounding the alarm. They warn that marriage equality is far less secure than it looks, and the ground beneath it is already shifting. That’s why they are now moving to lock protections into the state constitution in 2026.
Ohio’s urgency reflects a broader national shift that’s already underway. Support for same‑sex marriage has slipped sharply among conservatives, with recent Gallup data showing Republican backing has fallen to its lowest point in nearly a decade. In the most recent Gallup poll, only 41 percent of Republicans say same‑sex marriage should be legally valid. This is the lowest level since 2016. GOP support for same-sex marriage has dropped 14 points since its peak of 55 percent in 2021–2022. And the gap between Republicans (41 percent) and Democrats (88 percent) is 47 points, the widest Gallup has ever measured since it began polling in 1996.
What looked like a settled cultural consensus in the mid‑2010s is now fracturing, as the Right increasingly treats marriage equality not as a closed question but as a live front in the broader fight over social norms. Legislatures in states including Idaho and North Dakota have
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