Republican Senator Reverses His Position on Marriage Equality Because of Gay Son

By Laura Beck | March 15, 2013 | 1:30pm

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Rob Portman, Ohio’s junior Senator, told CNN on Thursday that he had a “change of heart,” and that he now supports marriage equality. Although he previously supported the Defense of Marriage Act and the Federal Marriage Amendment, Portman listened to his heart, and his son, and came to some pretty sane conclusions:

During my career in the House and also the last couple of years here in the Senate, I’ve taken a position against gay marriage, rooted in part in my faith and my faith tradition. And I had a very personal experience, which is that my son came to Jane, my wife, and I and, and told us that he was gay and that it was not a choice, and that’s just part of who he is and he’d been that way for as long as he could remember. And that launched an interesting process for me, which was kind-of rethinking my positing, talking to my pastor and other religious leaders, and going through a process of changing my position on the issue. I now believe that [gay] people ought to have the right to get married.

Right on, Senator Rob Portman!

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There are no Republican senators currently serving in the Senate who supported marriage equality prior to Portman’s announcement, and only two GOP members of the House (Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Richard Hanna) who signed on to a brief before the Supreme Court urging the court to find a constitutional right to marriage equality. May it take less than a gay son to help other members of the GOP come to the realization that same-sex marriage is the wave of the future — and they can either hop on board, or get swept out into the terrifying ocean of inequality!

Interestingly, Portman was apparently approached by the Romney camp last year as a potential running mate, but was passed over for professional idiot Paul Ryan. To Romney’s team’s credit, they told Portman that the fact that his son is gay didn’t have anything to do with their decision. Whether that’s the truth or not, who knows. Honestly, maybe it would’ve helped get some votes from the fiscal hard liner Republicans who think gay people shouldn’t be burned at the stake. There are lots of people like that out there, and the current GOP continues to alienate them in favor of Tea Party nuttiness.

Well, no doubt the Log Cabin Republicans are popping some bubbly this Friday morning. Don’t get too crazy, kids, 95-plus percent of your party’s elected officials still don’t think you should be afforded equal rights. But, uh, pass the courvoisier for progress!

[CNN]