This year alone (and it’s only March), nearly ten states have introduced legislation to ban same-sex marriage. These measures may come from separate legislative halls, but they are connected by the growing permissibility of right wing extremism. More literally, they are connected by a single organization that has opposed LGBTQ+ rights since the 90s.
Five states—Idaho, Michigan, Montana North Dakota, and South Dakota—have all introduced bills challenging Obergefell v Hobbes, the landmark 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide. Four more states—Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas—have introduced legislation to create a new category called “covenant marriage,” which is restricted to straight couples and contains additional hurdles to getting a divorce.
As regards the first five states, the language of the proposed bills is nearly identical, and that’s no coincidence. According to an analysis by the Washington Post, a far right organization called MassResistance is behind the resurgent effort to overturn marriage rights, working with legislators in each of these states.
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MassResistance, which the Southern Poverty Law Center designates as a hate group, is formerly known as the Parents’ Rights Coalition founded in 1995. While in their early days they were busy opposing the rights of pregnant women to run for office and scholarships for LGBTQ+ youth turned out of their homes, they now have their sights set on marriage rights, which is supported by the vast majority of Americans.
MassResistance field director Arthur Schaper testified before the North Dakota House Judiciary Committee in support of the fringe legislation. “Some may argue that this is a settled matter, that we have more pressing concerns,” he said. “But if we allow the foundation of marriage and family to erode, then every other policy—economic, legal and cultural—rests on shifting sand.”
Legal experts believe the effort is likely to fail, given that national support for gay marriage has reached an all-time high of 70% according to a 2023 Gallup poll. Instead, MassResistance goals seem to be more about capitalizing on the rise of Trump and the general mainstreaming of far right views.
“It’s a way for people in conservative parts of the country, or conservative legislators, to say it’s a new era,” Kimberly Mutcherson, professor of law at Rutgers Law School, explained.
Overturning Obergefell would also take more than state legislation. “There would have to be a constitutional case that got litigated,” Mutcherson said. “There would have to be conflict among circuits that allow the case to wind up to the Supreme Court. That is the kind of thing that takes years.”
“Attacking American institutions like marriage and spreading negativity about love is the work of a small, bitter minority,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD president and CEO. “They’re completely out of step with the American people.”
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