Marco Rubio steps up plans to reverse equal marriage
The presidential candidate has stepped up his plans to overturn equal marriage.
Republican presidential candidate, Marco Rubio, has doubled his efforts to overturn equal marriage by forming a marriage and family advisory board as part of his campaign.
The Florida senator announced his plans prior to the GOP’s debate on Saturday night and has included a number of prominent anti-gay activists.
In his announcement, Rubio said the board would be dedicated to “rebuilding a vibrant culture of marriage and family.”
Eric Teetsel, Rubio’s director of faith outreach, used the announcement to attack same-sex marriage.
He said: “The Supreme Court’s decisions in Windsor and Obergefell are only the most recent example of our failure as a society to understand what marriage is and why it matters.
“For decades, we have taken for granted the unique and necessary contributions of moms and dads in the lives of their children, from lax divorce laws to marriage penalties in the tax code and the failure of husbands and wives to live up to their marriage vows.”
He added that the “board of experts” understood and devoted themselves to rebuilding a “vibrant culture of marriage and family”.
Some of the recruits to the 44-year-old candidate’s committee include: Ken Blackwell, of the Family Research Council – a declared hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre – and ‘conversion therapy’ advocate, Ryan Anderson.
Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the case that saw equal marriage legalised across the United States, said on Twitter that he planned to start an anti-Rubio advisory board.
Others echoed his sentiments, saying his plans to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision are outdated.
Previously, Rubio has said if he is elected he will only nominate anti-gay justices and that he believed equal marriage can be overturned because no case law is settled.
