by Arthur Schaper
In state after state, Republican legislators display both cowardice and short-sightedness when it comes to pushing back against Obergefell.
For the last two years, MassResistance has aggressively campaigned to reverse same-sex “marriage” by promoting nonbinding state legislative resolutions in several state legislatures, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. We have consistently maintained that Obergefell is an illegitimate judicial overreach that contradicts the Constitution’s original understanding, natural law, biological reality, and the historic definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Our model resolution frames Obergefell as fundamentally flawed, based on the most unfounded legal reasoning. The majority decision, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, relied on the judicial fiction of substantive due process, which unleashed a host of terrible Supreme Court precedents. From there, Kennedy argued that there is a right to same-sex marriage, even though marriage is not defined in the Constitution nor rooted in our nation’s history and traditions.
We drew most of our resolution’s legal arguments from the dissenting Justices (Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito), who argued that Obergefell undermined democratic processes, imposed an unjustified moral vision on the country, and ignored federalism.
Most importantly, however, redefining marriage caused great harm to the country, as MassResistance predicted. Same-sex “marriage” has unleashed an accelerated decline in marriage rates overall, challenges to religious liberty (bakers, photographers, adoption agencies), the spread of LGBT ideology in schools and public institutions, and harm to public health and public order. Our resolutions serve as a first step and signal to a post-Dobbs Supreme Court that states retain interest in this domain, much as Dobbs (2022) returned abortion to the states by correcting judicial overreach.
Despite successes in deeply conservative chambers—such as the Idaho House passing the resolution in both 2025 and 2026, and the North Dakota House advancing it—we have encountered significant opposition in many Republican states. Our resolutions have stalled in committees or never get a hearing. Our legislative sponsors continue to face lukewarm support from members and quiet rejection from leadership. Such cowardice exposes how many Republicans in red states are just liberal politicians masquerading as conservatives.
Worse yet, this pattern of capitulation reveals the growing fissures within the conservative movement. Where is the commitment to effective pro-family policies? They should prioritize Obergefell’s reversal, but most Republican lawmakers focus on low-hanging fruit, like keeping boys out of girls’ sports or protecting parents’ rights in the schools. All these issues matter, but the core problem that unleashed LGBT tyranny began with the destructive redefinition of marriage.
Idaho’s repeated House passage demonstrates that there is some appetite to pass our Resolution. Yet broader red-state inaction still dogs our efforts. In our conversations with our different legislative sponsors across the country, they complain about their colleagues, who show little interest or courage to take on this fight.
From what we have experienced, the following factors explain why Republican legislators will not support our Resolution:
1. Too many GOP legislators and operatives view same-sex marriage as a settled cultural issue. They look at the polls and conclude that most of the nation supports same-sex “marriage,” although there is declining Republican support in some surveys. Despite our best efforts, many pro-family conservative legislators still struggle to articulate why same-sex marriage is wrong.
2. Legislators fear that confronting this issue risks alienating voters and donors. With midterms and presidential cycles looming, party leadership wants to focus on easier fights, such as taxes, immigration, education reform, and economic growth. They simply don’t want to fight and win the culture war on family. Their timidity also stems from fear of intense media attacks, potential primary challenges from the left of the party, and fundraising problems from individual and corporate donors wary of LGBT cancel culture.
3. The broader conservatism movement has fragmented. Libertarian-leaning GOP factions in state legislatures emphasize individual rights over the state’s definition of marriage. Business-oriented Republicans fear economic disruption from renewed cultural conflict. Evangelical and traditionalist bases support MassResistance’s vision, but secular or nominal conservatives do not, and they are even thwarting our efforts. Declining religiosity and generational change within the GOP have also reduced urgency to restore natural marriage. Some view the fight as lost post-2015, preferring damage control (religious liberty protections) over reversal.
The question then becomes where we go from here. MassResistance remains committed to adopting a multi-pronged, long-term strategy rooted in persistence, education, and institution-building.
First, we are maintaining and intensifying grassroots pressure on these legislatures. Our activists are reaching out to church networks, homeschool communities, and parent groups to demand votes on record.
Second, MassResistance is committed to building broader intellectual and coalition support. We continue to frame the issue around evidence-based family policy: homosexuality is inherently destructive to human beings, and the behaviors are born out of trauma and abuse, not genetics. Natural marriage is a public good for stable child-rearing, supported by decades of sociological data showing that two biological parents confer advantages. Think tanks and legal scholars need to consider our efforts and arguments, then start launching their own test cases in courts.
Third, MassResistance is considering parallel legislative vehicles. Beyond resolutions, legislators have asked us to provide draft legislation that would advance covenant marriage laws, annul the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses altogether, and remove all LGBT ideological programs in schools.
The fight against this core value of the aggressive homosexual lobby will require patience and a realistic perspective on outcomes. Social change is slow; Obergefell followed decades of activism. Reversing it requires a cultural majority or at least a durable coalition, not just legislative majorities. Red states failing to act reveal a movement still maturing beyond anti-left reactivity toward an affirmative vision of human flourishing.
Despite the ongoing setbacks, MassResistance’s successes in Idaho and North Dakota prove that our strategy can gain traction where courage exists. Unfortunately, we not only face the lack of support from legislators, but the silence of other pro-family groups has been disappointing. Our Resolution is an easy step towards taking a stance and pushing for a renewal of natural marriage and family in this country. They should be working with us, not ignoring us.
MassResistance intends to keep pushing against this core tenet of the LGBT agenda. Legislators across the country have indicated their interest and support for our resolution. Lawmakers who worked with us last year and this year intend to refile the resolution for upcoming sessions. We also hope that this year’s primaries will clear out the liberal members and weak leaders who have frustrated our efforts up to now. MassResistance has never shied from a major fight, and we have no plans to abandon this one.
Image created using AI.
Arthur Schaper
Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/05/the_ongoing_betrayal_of_red_states_on_overturning_obergefell.html
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