The landmark Supreme Court case that gave us marriage equality legal nationwide in the United States became the law of the land on June 26, 2015. Obergefell v. Hodges requires all states to license and recognize same-sex marriages across all 50 states.
Now there’s a new organization – founded on Jan. 27 of this year – known as the “Greater Than” campaign. Their purpose? To overturn Obergefell v. Hodges and reverse same-sex marriage.
The campaign is made up of 47 anti-LGBTQ+ organizations, including Colson Center, Protect Our Kids, and the American Family Association. But the leader of this initiative is the far-right non-profit, Them Before Us, led by president and spokesperson Kate Faust.
These groups have come together to change the minds of the public and government about same-sex marriage. With a message that focuses on children rather than “adult desires,” the Greater Than campaign believes that the “sole purpose of marriage is to have kids.” Adding that the legalization of same sex marriage denies children the right to their “mother or father in the name of ‘adult equality.’” These desires, Greater Than adds, leads to children feeling abandoned, creating mental challenges and depression.
After a decade of marriage equality, Greater than and their sources say that kids aren’t fine, “and they haven’t been for quite some time.” They again bring up the destruction that same sex couples can have on children. When “you redefine marriage [same sex, single-parent households, and insemination], you have just destroyed the house.”
By centering marriage on biological pregnancy, the Greater Than campaign wants to shift people’s views to a more conservative way of thinking. On top of changing policy and public opinion, the campaign wishes to create a church that is a “child-centered fighting force.” They hope to push adoption and biological pregnancy, and stop same-sex marriage and insemination.
Their desire to alter public sentiment on same-sex marriage, in theory, could make it easier to justify LGBTQ+ repression and bigotry. Instead of thinking of marriage as love and children as a result of that love, the Greater Than campaign wants to focus their war on marriage equality solely on procreation and opposite-sex parentage.
Although an attempt late last year to overturn Obergefell was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court, comments from the organization on social media indicate they’re obsessed with achieving their goal. Though the Greater Than campaign is new on the scene, they have gained traction with other far-right groups.
To stay informed about their plans and reasoning, check out social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and the group’s website.