The campaign to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges has entered a dangerous new phase—one defined not by honest argument, but by distortion, bad faith, and outright deceit. At the center of this latest effort is Katy Faust, a long-time anti–marriage-equality activist now attempting to rebrand an old crusade with new tactics. The goal is familiar: roll back same-sex marriage. What’s new is how openly the movement is willing to lie to get there.
Faust has been making the rounds of right-wing media since launching her new coalition, boasting about its early success and outlining a strategy that relies heavily on ideologically aligned influencers. One of those influencers is Steve Deace, a Christian nationalist podcaster whose record includes repeated calls for political violence and dehumanizing rhetoric against perceived enemies. That Faust sees Deace as an asset rather than a liability tells us everything we need to know about the values driving this campaign: outrage over truth, extremism over persuasion, victory at any cost.
But the most revealing move is not who Faust partners with—it’s how her campaign is presenting itself to the public. The coalition’s website prominently features a photograph of Barack Obama alongside well-known anti-LGBTQ figures, implying his endorsement of a movement dedicated to undoing marriage equality. This is not a subtle suggestion; it is a deliberate attempt to mislead.
The quote attributed to Obama—about children benefiting from loving mothers, loving fathers, and strong marriages—comes from a 2010 event on responsible fatherhood. It predates his 2012 public support for marriage equality and has nothing to do with opposing same-sex marriage. To use it now, stripped of context and paired with a visual suggestion of alliance, is not accidental. It is propaganda.
This tactic reflects a broader strategy on the religious right: rewrite history, confuse timelines, and hope the audience doesn’t notice. Obama’s evolution on marriage equality is well documented. So is the fact that the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges settled the question of marriage as a constitutional right. There is no credible debate left on whether same-sex couples deserve equal protection under the law. What remains is resentment—and resentment needs myths to survive.
Steve Deace’s involvement underscores how radical this movement has become. This is a man who has likened political opponents to war criminals, called for public executions, and framed cultural disagreements as holy war. When such voices are elevated as “influencers,” the project stops being about policy or family values and starts being about power and punishment.
Faust herself has spent a decade positioning her personal story as moral cover for an anti-LGBTQ agenda. She frequently cites her lesbian mother while insisting that same-sex couples are inherently deficient, a rhetorical move designed to preempt accusations of bigotry without actually abandoning it. From U.S. Supreme Court briefs to testimony before foreign legislatures, her message has been consistent: LGBTQ families are to be tolerated emotionally but rejected legally.
Can Marriage Equality Be Overturned?
And yet, history keeps moving forward without her. Marriage equality survived the culture wars of the 2010s. It withstood dire predictions that never came true. Countries like Australia and Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage despite the same arguments Faust exported abroad. Each time, the sky failed to fall.
What makes this latest effort troubling is not its likelihood of success—it remains slim—but its method. When a movement feels comfortable falsely suggesting that a former president supports its cause, it signals a collapse of ethical boundaries. Democracy depends on shared facts. Civil debate depends on honesty. Campaigns built on lies corrode both.
This is not a “difference of opinion.” It is a conscious attempt to gaslight the public, laundering extremism through selective quotes and misleading imagery. If marriage equality is to be challenged again, it should be done openly, honestly, and without dragging uninvolved figures into a manufactured narrative.
The truth is simple: Barack Obama does not support overturning Obergefell. Same-sex marriage is the law of the land. And no amount of deceptive branding will change that reality—no matter how loudly the haters insist otherwise.
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