Republicans Want Nothing to Do With Conservative Efforts to Ban Gay Marriage

In late January, a number of prominent conservative advocates launched a campaign with the explicit goal of organizing to overturn the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in 2015.

Elected Republicans want nothing to do with it.

“If government is going to be in the marriage business, it cannot discriminate based upon any of the protected classes, including sexual orientation,” Rep. Nick LaLota of New York told NOTUS. “I don’t think it’s a viable effort, legally, politically or otherwise, to try to overturn that decision.”

The “Greater Than” campaign is an attempt to garner support — both popular and political — to overturn the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which declared that state bans on gay marriage were unconstitutional.

In a video announcing its launch, Katy Faust, founder and president of the conservative group Them Before Us, said that “when you redefine marriage, you redefine parenthood. When you make mothers and fathers optional in parenthood law, children are harmed.”

“Children are greater than equal,” conservative activists, taking turns, said in the video.

The Republican Party has been toning down its opposition to gay marriage in recent years. For decades, the party’s official platform declared that marriage was a union exclusively between a man and a woman. In 2016, a year after Obergefell was decided, the party added a clause explicitly condemning the ruling.

But in 2024, under the direction of Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate at the time, the language around “natural marriage” was removed, and the platform was changed to say that “Republicans will promote a Culture that values the Sanctity of Marriage.”

Polling also shows that most Americans overwhelmingly support keeping gay marriage legal. A May 2025 Gallup survey found that 68% of Americans believe that same-sex marriages should be considered valid under law. While current support is high, the most recent number is a decline from the 71% record high reached in 2023.

As the 2026 midterms approach, Republicans “are not going to want to lean into it,” one conservative House Republican, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, told NOTUS.

“Somebody in my circle, we’re good with it, we’d want to lean into it. But how do you think the president is going to feel about this?” the lawmaker continued.

Glenn Stanton, director of Global Family Formation Studies at the conservative Focus on the Family, told NOTUS the “Greater Than” campaign seeks to shift public opinion around same-sex marriage by focusing on children instead of the concept of marriage equality. He said that the campaign has a “very small budget,” so organizers aim to get their message out via social media, “through different educational channels” and by speaking with news outlets.

“It’s nature that dictates that every child that exists exists because they have a mother and a father,” Stanton said. “Those children have a right to be loved and cared for and tended to daily by their mother and father. That’s the ideal.”

“Obergefell changed all that, redefined all of that, to say that the desires of adults are actually greater and more pressing and more persuasive than the natural needs of children, and that’s the fundamental foundation of the ‘Greater Than’ campaign,” Stanton continued. “It’s a refocusing of what really matters.”

In 2022, lawmakers were deeply concerned that the legal principles the conservative majority used to overturn Roe v. Wade could be applied to protections for same-sex and interracial marriages. In response, Congress passed the Respect for Marriage Act in a bipartisan manner, though most Republicans voted against it.

The law, however, only established that states must recognize marriage licenses issued in other states. If Obergefell is overturned, states would be allowed to regulate marriage individually. Conservatives have been trying for years to submit federal cases to the Supreme Court that aim to do just that, but the justices have refused to take them up.

Faust, whose group is spearheading the “Greater Than” campaign, told NOTUS her coalition “will be proposing legislative options” and “policy recommendations” to legislators on the state level opposing gay marriage that could lead to cases that would ultimately overturn Obergefell. She clarified that the campaign is “not yet” working with lawmakers in Congress.

“I understand that it is politically costly for lawmakers,” Faust said. “This is risky, but we’re going to do it first. We are going to make the case both in the culture and in the courtrooms. We’re going to show people how to do this in a way that is child-centric and respects the dignity of our LGBTQ friends and family, but relentlessly and unflinchingly advocate on behalf of children.”

“I’m sorry if that interferes with somebody’s political goals, but I’m not here to advance their political goals, I’m here to defend kids,” Faust added.

Research has shown that having gay parents does not harm children, though Faust alleged, without evidence, that “those conclusions are based on overwhelming, blatant, naked bias.”

For Democrats, “Greater Than” offers them an opportunity to attack Republicans on an issue that’s politically unpopular.

“We should force Republicans to defend the indefensible,” Rep. Ritchie Torres, the chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus’ campaign arm, told NOTUS. “Few Republicans are willing to speak out explicitly against marriage equality because the culture has shifted so dramatically since 2015.”

Rep. Richard Hudson, chair of House Republicans’ campaign arm, told NOTUS, “We are being successful as Republicans because we’re focusing on issues people care about, and right now it’s pocketbook issues,” namely the economy and immigration.

But, Hudson continued, “some of these other issues are very important to key pieces of our base; it’s important to pay attention to those.” The congressman said that he was unfamiliar with the “Greater Than” campaign.

Messaging against transgender rights has been the GOP’s top cultural talking point in the elections since 2024. They still plan on leaning into that messaging during the midterm elections, but even Republicans who do oppose gay marriage aren’t interested in wrapping that messaging into their campaign strategy.

“I don’t think it’s being talked about widely now,” Rep. Andy Harris, who voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, told NOTUS.

One senior House Republican said that putting a spotlight on marriage equality would distract from the economy, which is the party’s main messaging point ahead of November.

“Republicans need to be 1,000% focused on economy, some of the strong numbers that we have, and the fact that we’re reducing the deficit. There’s a billion issues you could be taking up, but what’s the most important issue? It’s reducing our deficit,” the lawmaker said. “Is this about reducing our deficit? No. I don’t think it should be our main message.”

A third House Republican told NOTUS that “if you talk to gay conservatives, they actually, strangely aren’t unanimous on this issue.”

“There are some that don’t like it,” that third lawmaker said. It’s not their “one issue,” and, in general, “I think pocketbook issues define this election over everything else.”

For more moderate Republicans, who are in tight races in 2026, opposing marriage equality isn’t even an option.

“If the court did decide to overturn” Obergefell, “I would seek to address it legislatively,” said Rep. Mike Lawler, whose seat is a top target for Democrats.

Similarly, when NOTUS asked whether Republicans should get involved with the “Greater Than” campaign, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said they should only do so by “opposing it.”

Fitzpatrick, who voted for the Respect for Marriage Act and has supported the Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, stated simply: “I support gay marriage.”