(LifeSiteNews) — A new poll published on the 11th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision legalizing same-sex “marriage” across the country shows that the public now sees why the court’s ruling has proved to be a disaster for children. 

The survey found broad agreement on a question many cultural and political leaders have treated as settled since the Court’s 2015 decision: that children do in fact need a mother and a father.

The poll of 1,200 conservative and moderate likely general-election voters was conducted June 14-16 by The Decision Co. and released on Friday by the Greater Than coalition – a national alliance of parents, faith leaders, scholars, lawyers, and advocacy organizations dedicated to protecting children’s rights in marriage and family law. 

A whopping 82% of those polled agreed that no child should be deliberately denied a mother or a father.

“For years, the left has portrayed the belief that children deserve both their mother and father as a fringe view. This poll proves otherwise,” said Katy Faust, founder and president of Them Before Us and leader of the Greater Than coalition.  

“Among conservative and moderate voters, there is overwhelming agreement that children have a right to both parents whenever possible,” Faust said. “At a time when the political right is often described as divided, this issue stands out as one of remarkable unity. The conviction that children should come before adult desires remains a defining value shared across the conservative movement.” 

“We’re no longer debating hypotheticals. Across the country, accounts from children conceived through egg donation, sperm donation, and surrogacy are emerging,” the Them Before Us head noted in a WORLD commentary. “We watch videos of people who experienced mother- or father-hunger, and see headlines of children denied their needs, commissioned by predators, acquired by single elderly men, and even mass-produced as a result of Obergefell-mandated parentage makeovers. All in the name of adult ‘equality.’”

“Children cannot protect their own interests. So we must do it for them,” she declared. 

“This poll exposes the growing disconnect between elite cultural narratives and the convictions of conservative and moderate voters,” said Josh Hammer, Greater Than coalition member, senior editor-at-large at Newsweek, and host of The Josh Hammer Show.  

“Despite years of messaging from the media, academia, and corporate America, these voters continue to affirm a fundamental belief: Whenever possible, children should be raised by and connected to both their mother and father,” Hammer continued. “At a time when the center-right is often portrayed as fractured, this survey reveals remarkable unity around a principle that should never have become controversial: the rights and needs of children deserve to come before adult desires.”

The survey found:

• 96 percent of those polled said it is important for a child to be raised with both an involved mother and an involved father.
• 82 percent of those surveyed agreed that no child should be deliberately denied a mother or a father.
• 78 percent agreed that when a child’s needs conflict with an adult’s desires, the child’s needs should come first.
• 66 percent rejected the claim that being raised by same-sex parents is no different for a child than being raised by an adoptive mother and father.
• 63 percent of those surveyed agree that children are harmed when they lose their mother or father to be raised in a same-sex household.

The survey also found that these beliefs are not confined to Americans who describe themselves as religious. Among voters who attend church regularly, 72 percent agree on legal recognition of a child’s mother and father – but so do 43 percent of those who never attend church at all, pointing to a conviction many people hold simply about what children need.

“As we mark the 11th anniversary of Obergefell, Americans are no longer arguing over predictions; they are judging outcomes. They have watched the promises of marriage redefinition play out in their schools, businesses, athletic competitions, churches, and families,” Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said. 

“Increasingly, the American people are rendering their own verdict. The great experiment of redefining marriage and reinventing the family has produced its results. Americans are no longer judging promises – they are judging outcomes,” Perkins said. “The debate over the Sexual Revolution is no longer about its promises. It is about its consequences.”

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