Gay Marriage Divides Republicans Again as Support Declines
The issue of same-sex marriage is once again fracturing the Republican Party, as new polling shows a sharp decline in GOP support for LGBTQ+ rights and state-level legislative efforts to challenge the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling gain momentum. According to a Gallup poll released June 3, Republican support for same-sex marriage now stands at 37%, an 18-point drop from its peak of 55% in 2021-2022.
A Reversal After Two Decades of Progress
The Gallup survey, conducted May 1-17, 2026, found that overall U.S. support for same-sex marriage has fallen to 65%, down from a high of 71% in 2022-2023. The percentage of Americans viewing gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable has dropped to 62%, its lowest level since 2016. Jeffrey M. Jones, Gallup’s senior editor, noted that “pro-LGBTQ+ attitudes peaked about five years ago and have since edged downward, mostly among Republicans.”
The shift is most pronounced among Republicans. Only 35% now view same-sex relations as morally acceptable, a decline of 21 points from 2022. On transgender rights, the partisan divide is even starker: just 5% of Republicans say changing one’s gender is morally acceptable, compared to 60% of Democrats and 42% of independents, according to the same Gallup data.
State-Level Challenges to Obergefell
Since 2025, lawmakers in at least nine states have introduced resolutions urging the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. As Newsweek reported, those states include Michigan, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
In March 2026, Idaho’s House voted to advance a resolution calling on the Supreme Court to reverse Obergefell, sending the measure to the state Senate. Idaho Republican Rep. Tony Wisniewski, the resolution’s sponsor, argued on the House floor that the Obergefell decision “ultimately resulted in a violation of religious rights of individuals and companies.” Idaho House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, a Democrat, called the effort “affirmatively, very harmful and hurtful to Idahoans” and “harmful to the thousands of same-sex married couples in Idaho.”
Most of these resolutions have died in committee or failed to pass, suggesting limited legislative appetite for actually overturning Obergefell. However, the current Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority — larger than the 5-4 majority that decided Obergefell — raising concerns among LGBTQ+ advocates about the long-term vulnerability of the ruling.
The Ogles Controversy
The internal GOP divide was laid bare on June 2, when Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) posted on X: “Homosexuality has no place in America. Happy Nuclear Family Month.” As JRL Charts reported, the post was deleted after widespread backlash, with Ogles later blaming a staffer.
New York Times congressional correspondent Annie Karni described the statement as “an extreme statement even by deep red state standards.” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) publicly criticized Ogles’ comments, highlighting the intra-party tension. The controversy underscored the strategic stalemate within the GOP, which Austin Gilpin, a gay political consultant in Washington, described to the New York Times as a dynamic where the two factions “remain bound together because neither can afford to win the fight outright.”
Analysis: A Party at a Crossroads
The Republican Party faces a structural tension on LGBTQ+ issues. The establishment and moderate wing, including figures like Rep. Lawler, shows little appetite for reopening Obergefell, recognizing that 65% of Americans still support same-sex marriage. Meanwhile, the party’s socially conservative base continues to push for traditional positions, with state-level resolutions and inflammatory rhetoric serving to mobilize voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The broader context includes the approaching 11th anniversary of Obergefell, the Respect for Marriage Act of 2022 providing a federal statutory backstop, and a cultural landscape where LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. has reached 9% of adults — more than double a decade ago. The number of married same-sex couples has also doubled over the past ten years.
What’s Next
As the 2026 midterm elections approach, the Republican Party’s internal struggle over LGBTQ+ issues is likely to intensify. Key questions remain: Will the Idaho resolution or similar measures gain further traction? Could the Supreme Court, with its conservative supermajority, take up a new challenge to same-sex marriage? And how will the debate over trans rights — where the partisan divide is even more pronounced — shape the party’s platform and electoral strategy?
For now, the GOP remains caught between a base that is increasingly resistant to LGBTQ+ rights and a broader electorate that continues to support marriage equality. As the New York Times report by Sabrina Tavernise makes clear, this is a division with no easy resolution in sight.