Christian nationalist Oklahoma state Sen. Dusty Deevers (R) recently said that Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, is not settled law because “there is just no right to gay marriage in the Constitution” and because marriage is “God’s institution.”
Deevers made his comment while speaking to Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC). The FRC has been certified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Research Center.
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“People like to say that Obergefell is a settled law, but the truth is it’s not,” Deevers said. “Obergefell isn’t settled law. It’s besetting immorality that’s imposed by judicial decree, and court opinions can be referred to as ‘settled law’ only if they are rooted firmly in the Constitution and the heritage and the tradition of the American people.”
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Deevers is incorrect. “Settled law,” a term that appears frequently in judicial opinions, refers to binding legal precedents that are considered a somewhat permanent and substantive part of legal doctrine, according to Virginia Law Review.
“The fact is, Obergefell is fundamentally antithetical to all of these, and there is just no right to gay marriage in the Constitution,” Deevers continued. Despite this claim, the Supreme Court believes that the Constitution’s equal protection and due process provisions require the government to treat all individuals equally under the law unless there’s a compelling government interest to do otherwise.
Deevers then noted that some states are now passing resolutions in support of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s ambition to overrule Obergefell. He’s right: Republicans in nine states have pushed measures to end same-sex marriage.
“Ultimately, marriage is not the state’s institution, it’s God’s institution,” Deevers said. “No Supreme Court ruling that redefines a God-ordained institution is ever truly settled: not morally or culturally, and even constitutionally. The rogue court will stand in judgment before God for their decision.”
Dusty Deevers, a Christian nationalist pastor/Oklahoma state senator, says the 2015 Obergefell ruling will never be settled law because "no ruling that redefines a God-ordained institution is ever truly settled": "The rogue court will stand before God for their decision." pic.twitter.com/hfdydIzEz6
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) April 24, 2025
In 2024, Deevers introduced a bill that would fine and imprison adults for consensually creating or sending sexual images or text messages.
Deevers’s campaign website also clearly states his anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs.
“It is outrageous that drag queens are permitted to dance and twerk for children at pride parades and story hours in our state,” his website states. “It is outrageous that … public schools have exposed elementary and middle school children to… LGBTQ+ propaganda…. It is outrageous that Critical Race Theory and Queer Theory dominate in many of our public institutions. I promise to support legislation to put a stop to all of this.”
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