Southern Baptist delegates at national meeting overwhelmingly call for banning same-sex marriage

DALLAS (AP) — Southern Baptist delegates at their national meeting overwhelmingly endorsed a ban on same-sex marriage — including a call for a reversal of the U.S. Supreme Court's 10-year-old precedent legalizing it nationwide.

They also called for legislators to curtail sports betting and to support policies that promote childbearing.

The votes Tuesday came at the gathering of more than 10,000 church representatives at the annual meeting of the nation's largest Protestant denomination.

The wide-ranging resolution doesn’t use the word “ban,” but it left no room for legal same-sex marriage in calling for the “overturning of laws and court rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges, that defy God’s design for marriage and family.” Further, the resolution affirmatively calls “for laws that affirm marriage between one man and one women.”

A reversal of the Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell decision wouldn’t in and of itself amount to a nationwide ban. At the time of that ruling, 36 states had already legalized same-sex marriage, and support remains strong in many areas.

However, if the convention got its wish, not only would Obergefell be overturned, but so would every law and court ruling that affirmed same-sex marriage.

There was no debate on the marriage resolution. That in itself is not surprising in the solidly conservative denomination, which has long defined marriage as between one man and one woman. However, it marks an especially assertive step in its call for the reversal of a decade-old Supreme Court ruling, as well as any other legal pillars to same-sex marriage in law and court precedent.

The marriage issue was incorporated into a much larger resolution on marriage and family — one that calls for civil law to be based on what the convention says is the divinely created order as stated in the Bible.

The resolution says legislators have a duty to “pass laws that reflect the truth of creation and natural law — about marriage, sex, human life, and family” and to oppose laws contradicting “what God has made plain through nature and Scripture.”

The same resolution calls for recognizing “the biological reality of male and female” and opposes "any law or policy that compels people to speak falsehoods about sex and gender."

It urges Christians to “embrace marriage and childbearing” and to see children “as blessings rather than burdens."

But it also frames that issue as one of public policy. It calls for “for renewed moral clarity in public discourse regarding the crisis of declining fertility and for policies that support the bearing and raising of children within intact, married families.”

It laments that modern culture is “pursuing willful childlessness which contributes to a declining fertility rate,” echoing a growing subject of discourse on the religious and political right.

The pornography resolution, which had no debate, calls such material destructive, addictive and exploitive and says governments have the power to ban it.

The sports betting resolution draws on Southern Baptists' historic opposition to gambling. It called sports betting “harmful and predatory.” One pastor urged an amendment to distinguish between low-stakes, recreational gambling and predatory, addictive gambling activities. But his proposed amendment failed.

Andrew Walker, chair of the Committee on Resolutions, said at a news conference that the marriage resolution shows that Southern Baptists aren’t going along with the widespread social acceptance of same-sex marriage.

But Walker, a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, acknowledged that a realistic rollback strategy would require incremental steps, such as seeking to overturn Obergefell.

“I’m clear-eyed about the difficulties and the headwinds in this resolution,” he said.

The two-day annual meeting began Tuesday morning with praise sessions and optimistic reports about growing numbers of baptisms. But casting a pall over the gathering is the recent death of one of the most high-profile whistleblowers in the Southern Baptists' scandal of sexual abuse.

Jennifer Lyell, a onetime denominational publishing executive who went public in 2019 with allegations that she had been sexually abused by a seminary professor while a student, died Saturday at 47. She “suffered catastrophic strokes," a friend and fellow advocate, Rachael Denhollander, posted Sunday on X.

Friends reported that the backlash Lyell received after going public with her report took a devastating toll on her.

Several abuse survivors and advocates for reform, who previously had a prominent presence in recent SBC meetings, are skipping this year’s gathering, citing lack of progress by the convention.

Two people sought to fill that void, standing vigil outside of the meeting at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas as attendees walked by. The pair held up signs with photos of Lyell and of Gareld Duane Rollins, who died earlier this spring and who was among those who accused longtime SBC power broker Paul Pressler of sexual abuse.

“It’s not a healthy thing for them (survivors) to be here,” said Johnna Harris, host of a podcast on abuse in evangelical ministries. “I felt like it was important for someone to show up. I want people to know there are people who care.”

The SBC Executive Committee, in a 2022 apology, acknowledged “its failure to adequately listen, protect, and care for Jennifer Lyell when she came forward to share her story.” It also acknowledged the denomination’s official news agency had not accurately reported the situation as “sexual abuse by a trusted minister in a position of power at a Southern Baptist seminary."

SBC officials issued statements this week lamenting Lyell's death, but her fellow advocates have denounced what they say is a failure to implement reforms.

The SBC's 2022 meeting voted overwhelmingly to create a way to track pastors and other church workers credibly accused of sex abuse. That came shortly after the release of a blockbuster report by an outside consultant, which said Southern Baptist leaders mishandled abuse cases and stonewalled victims for years.

But the denomination's Executive Committee president, Jeff Iorg, said earlier this year that creating a database is not a focus and that the committee instead plans to refer churches to existing databases of sex offenders and focus on education about abuse prevention. The committee administers the denomination's day-to-day business.

Advocates for reform don't see those approaches as adequate.

It is the latest instance of “officials trailing out hollow words, impotent task forces and phony dog-and-pony shows of reform,” abuse survivor and longtime advocate Christa Brown wrote on Baptist News Global, which is not SBC-affiliated.

In a related action, the Executive Committee will also be seeking $3 million in convention funding for ongoing legal expenses related to abuse cases.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, attendance was at 10,541 church representatives (known as messengers). That is less than a quarter of the total that thronged the SBC's annual meeting 40 years ago this month in a Dallas showdown that marked the height of battles over control of the convention, ultimately won by the more conservative-fundamentalist side led by Pressler and his allies.

Messengers will also debate whether to institute a constitutional ban on churches with women pastors and to abolish its public-policy arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission — which is staunchly conservative, but according to critics, not enough so.

Brent Leatherwood, president of the ERLC, said Tuesday he would address the “turbulence” during his scheduled remarks Wednesday but was confident in the messengers' support.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Southern Baptist Convention President Clint Pressley gives the President's Address during the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Southern Baptist Convention President Clint Pressley gives the President's Address during the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

David Jenkins of Arlington, Texas, raises his arms during a worship session at the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Messengers attending the Southern Baptist Convention bow their heads in prayer during the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Messengers attending the Southern Baptist Convention make motions from the floor during the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

A messenger attending the Southern Baptist Convention raises his ballot to vote during the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board speaks during the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Brent Leatherwood, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, greets a well-wisher after a commission-sponsored lunch at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Smith)

Barry Bowen, left, and Johnna Harris hold signs honoring the recently deceased Gareld Duane Rollins and Jennifer Lyell, whistleblowers who faulted the Southern Baptist Convention's handling of sexual abuse, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, outside the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. (AP Photo/Peter Smith)

Messengers attending the Southern Baptist Convention lay on hands and pray over missionaries during the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, speaks during the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Southern Baptist Convention President Clint Pressley gives the President's Address during the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

A messenger attending the Southern Baptist Convention participates in worship during the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Southern Baptist Convention President Clint Pressley gives the President's Address during the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.

Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.

The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.

Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.

In Friday’s case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation, and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting and thus depriving some Cabinet members who were not convened of their due rights to deliberate on his decree.

Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.

Yoon’s defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was “politicized” and reflected “the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel.” Yoon’s defense team argued the ruling “oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president’s constitutional powers and criminal liability.”

Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.

Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.

South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.

South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity. Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200 people, and other crimes.

Some observers say Yoon will likely retain a defiant attitude in the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the future.

On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate “anti-state forces” and protect “the constitutional democratic order.” Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.

No major violence occurred, but Yoon's stunt caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea and rattled its diplomacy and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind in more than four decades in South Korea, brought back harrowing memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.

After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.

Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for a political favor.

A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)