Anti-LGBT activist Gary Bauer threatened the Republican party with political defection on Tuesday amid a shifting political tide on marriage equality.

“I’m a Republican. Many of you, I’m sure, are Democrats,” said Bauer, president of the religious group American Values. “I’m a Republican. Let me say to my party, if you bail out on this issue, I will leave the party and I will take as many people with me as I possibly can.”

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According to Right Wing Watch, Bauer’s speech was part of a “March for Marriage” event at the National Mall organized by the National Organization for Marriage, one of several public demonstrations on both sides of the issue surrounding the Supreme Court’s discussion on California’s ban on same-sex marriage on Tuesday.

“My friends, children need mothers and fathers,” Bauer told the crowd. “And so I say, shame on the politicians and the judges that are trying to undermine the institution of marriage.”

A CBS News poll published on Tuesday showed increased support for marriage equality, with 53 percent of respondents favoring it.

Bauer dismissed similar findings by a Washington Post survey in a panel discussion on Fox News on Sunday, saying “the polls are skewed.”

Watch Bauer address his supporters on Tuesday in video posted by Right Wing Watch below.