Dec 4
Gay Twitter, Fellow Lawmakers Drag Michigan GOP State Rep after Call to 'Make Marriage Equality Illegal Again'
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 4 MIN.
The GOP may have dropped its longstanding opposition to marriage equality in its party platform, but Michigan State Rep. Josh Schriver, a Republlican, evidently didn't get the bulletin.
"Make gay marriage illegal again," Schriver tweeted on Dec. 2, for no apparent reason. "This is not remotely controversial, nor extreme."
The tweet was followed on the same day by a second broadside that included a clip of Barack Obama – then a senator – saying, "I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman."
"20 years ago, Barack Obama was more conservative on marriage than many Republicans today," Schriver declared. "America only 'accepted' gay marriage after it was thrusted into her by a perverted Supreme Court ruling."
Ironically, the anti-marriage tweets followed immediately after a post in which the lawmaker announced a week-long digital detox to focus on spending more time with his own family.
"The elected official, who self-identifies as a Christian in his X bio, has been adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage for years," political news outlet The Hill noted.
"Same-sex marriage has been legally protected in the United States since 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled in the case Obergefell v. Hodges," UK newspaper the Independent reminded readers. "Before then, 19 states had laws protecting same-sex marriage."
Schriver's anti-family tweets prompted swift denunciations from fellow state lawmakers, including openly gay and married State Rep. Jason Morgan and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
"A fellow representative is saying my marriage to the man I love should be illegal," The Hill quoted Morgan stating in a tweet of his own. "This is definitely both controversial and extreme, along with anti-family."
"I grew up believing I'd never be able to get married and I'm not going back," Morgan added.
In a subsequent tweet, Morgan deftly turned the attack on families like his into a rallying cry to protect all Michigan families.
"When they say they are coming for our families, let's believe them," the Democratic state rep posted. "We must codify marriage equality into Michigan's Constitution."
"I call on my colleagues to pass our resolution, HJR F, before the end of the year to put the question back to voters!"
Gov. Whitmer was unequivocal in her own response, declaring to CBS News, "Any attempt to strip away gay marriage is wrong."
"Here in Michigan, we protected fundamental rights because no one should be fired from a job, evicted from their home, or unable to marry because of who they love," Gov. Whitmer went on to say.
"Michigan is a place for all to live and work with dignity, and I'm going to fight like hell to keep it that way," the governor added.
State AG Dana Nessel, who is LGBTQ+, similarly slammed the tweet in no uncertain terms.
"Please explain how dissolving my marriage, or that of the hundreds of thousands of other same-sex couples living in America, provides a benefit to your constituents or anyone else," Nessel demanded.
"You're not interested in helping Michiganders," Nessel added. "You want only to hurt those you hate. Shame on you."
In another tweet, Nessel linked the attack on same-sex families to Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint for radically overhauling America's government and society.
"Republicans are coming for our marriages," Nessel warned, "and, if Project 2025 is any indication, their agenda goes far beyond economic policy or national security. It's about erasing the rights of those they don't value or anyone who is different from them."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.