At their annual meeting in Dallas, the Southern Baptist Convention is back at it—resurrecting decades-old moral panic, this time wrapped in a fresh conservative bow. America’s largest Protestant denomination wants to outlaw pornography, curb sports betting, and—shockingly but predictably—reverse the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
But that’s not all. They’re also targeting what they call “willful childlessness,” as if choosing not to have kids were some biblical crime. The tone of the resolutions is aggressively regressive, seeking to impose a rigid interpretation of “God’s design” on the whole country. In other words: if you’re queer, betting, browsing Pornhub, or living your best child-free life—they’re coming for you.
Not Just Church Politics—A National Agenda
These aren’t just internal debates among believers. The Southern Baptist Convention has outsized influence, with allies in high political places—including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Their goal is nothing short of legislating their beliefs for the entire country, and they’re couching it all in “divine order” language. As seminary leader Albert Mohler put it, their worldview is “binding on all persons, in all times, everywhere.” Sounds more theocratic than democratic.
That kind of absolutism leaves little room for anyone who isn’t straight, cisgender, or living in a nuclear family with 2.5 kids. A resolution urged lawmakers to reflect “the truth of creation and natural law,” a thinly veiled attack on LGBTQ rights, reproductive autonomy, and personal freedom.
What It Means for LGBTQ Americans
Let’s be clear: when the SBC tries to roll back marriage equality and attack trans identities, it’s not about theology—it’s about erasing the legal and social progress the LGBTQ community has made. These resolutions are part of a wider Christian nationalist agenda that’s creeping into legislation, emboldened by political allies and sympathetic judges.
One Baptist professor, Nancy Ammerman, said it plainly: “There’s not a lot of room for compromise.” And that’s the point. The SBC isn’t just defending tradition—they’re enforcing exclusion.
If passed, these resolutions won’t change federal law overnight. But they’ll send a chilling message to lawmakers, courts, and queer Americans alike: your rights are on the chopping block. And for a denomination hemorrhaging members year after year, this grasp for control feels less like moral leadership and more like a last-ditch crusade to reclaim cultural power.
Internal Dissent—and Racial Backlash
Even within the SBC, not everyone is marching in lockstep. Pastor Dwight McKissic, a Black conservative pastor, criticized what he sees as a “transition from an evangelical organization to a fundamentalist one.” He warned that fewer Black churches will stay affiliated if this trend continues. Meanwhile, the SBC’s own Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission—its public policy arm—is under fire from hardliners for not going far enough, especially in pushing for the criminalization of abortion and transgender rights.
And while the denomination still claims over 12 million members, its influence is shrinking in culture—but expanding in Congress. That’s the real danger: political power wielded in the name of religious purity, with LGBTQ Americans caught in the crosshairs.
The Southern Baptist Convention isn’t just having a theological conference. It’s launching a legislative wish list that could erase hard-won freedoms. The queer community has seen this script before. We’re not going back.