The latest offensive from groups aligned with the “MAGA” movement, cloaked in concern for children, emerged last week, though it was largely overshadowed by other pressing issues. These include the internment of kindergartners, cuts to funding for child predator investigations, and a measles outbreak in a detention center.
At the heart of this coordinated effort, launched by the religious right, is a campaign to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell vs. Hodges decision, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. The argument being put forward is that same-sex marriage harms children.
While public opinion largely supports marriage equality, the future of the Supreme Court’s stance remains uncertain. But what is most disturbing, according to observers, is that this campaign represents yet another disingenuous tactic by MAGA-aligned groups to exploit concerns about children as a pretext for attacking civil rights and imposing religious values on society.
MAGA rhetoric frequently frames opposition to immigrants and diversity as a means of protecting children, and for decades, conspiracy theories have sought to portray LGBTQ+ parents as deviant and predatory. As one example, the QAnon movement centered around the idea of saving children from gay and Democratic predators.
“In reality, it’s the MAGA folks who are traumatizing children,” one analyst noted.
Chauntyll Allen, a school board member in St. Paul, Minnesota, who was recently arrested during a church protest involving an ICE official, expressed her concern: “Our children are afraid. They’re terrorized.” She added that all children “are watching this, they’re experiencing this, and they’re carrying the terror in their body. What is this going to do for our society in 20 years?”
The campaign to undo marriage equality relies on mischaracterizations of specific cases – two cases in California – to create outrage, while ignoring the broader context. It also specifically targets in vitro fertilization and surrogacy, framing them as dangerous pathways to promoting LGBTQ+ families.
According to reports, the effort falsely equates the legalization of same-sex marriage with prioritizing “adult desires” over the well-being of children, who are supposedly dependent on being raised by a married man and woman. This argument disregards the millions of children raised by single parents, grandparents, or other guardians.
The campaign also overlooks the fact that funding for U.S. Department of Justice programs combating sex crimes against children has recently been slashed, leaving victims and prosecutors with fewer resources.
The hypocrisy is particularly stark given the lack of attention paid to the victims of sex crimes detailed in the released Epstein files. As one observer put it, the campaign is not genuinely about saving children, but rather about leveraging the issue for political gain.
As the election season approaches, the MAGA machine is expected to shift focus away from issues like immigration and back to traditional wedge issues such as feminism, abortion, and same-sex marriage – topics that consistently mobilize its base, regardless of other events. The underlying message is clear: concern for children is a powerful manipulation, and a last-ditch effort as same-sex marriage becomes more accepted.
“Those behind the effort to undo marriage equality say that by legalizing the ability for LGBTQ+ folks to tie the knot, America put ‘adult desires’ ahead of children’s well-being,” one report stated, quoting Katy Faust, a leader of the campaign, from an interview with a Christian news website.
The campaign also ignores the plight of children held in detention centers and the fear experienced by Black and brown children and their families due to potential deportation or violence.
