Gay marriage has been a widely revisited issue in American politics for the past few decades. However, it's only of late that more and more citizens and politicians have openly declared their support for marriage equality. Most recently added to this list is Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman, which is quite a surprise.
Though the conservative legislator hasn't been a vocal opponent to gay rights, he supported a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, voted for the Defense of Marriage Act and voted to prohibit gay couples in Washington from adopting children. However, he reached a turning point in his personal beliefs on the issue back in 2011 when his own son revealed that he was gay.
Portman's 21-year-old son Will told his parents that he was not gay by choice and that he had been that way for as long as he could remember, said the GOP Senator in an exclusive interview with CNN. Immediately, he and his wife reacted to his son's shocking announcement with love and support, he said, adding that it "of course hasn't changed our view of him at all."
Over the last two years, the congressman said that his views on gay marriage have evolved and now he's ready to stand up as the only sitting Republican senator in support of marriage equality.
"I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn't deny them the opportunity to get married," Portman wrote in an op-ed piece in Ohio's Columbus Dispatch paper, titled "The Freedom to Marry."
"I've come to the conclusion that for me, personally, I think this is something that we should allow people to do, to get married, and to have the joy and stability of marriage that I've had for over 26 years. That I want all of my children to have, including our son, who is gay," wrote Portman.
In his op-ed piece, Portman talk about he has "wrestled" with reconciling his Christian faith with the desire for his son to have the same opportunities as his siblings. "Ultimately, for me, it came down to the Bible's overarching themes of love and compassion and my belief that we are all children of God," he said.
Last year, he was on the short list to run as Mitt Romney's running mate in the 2012 presidential election. Now, we'll see how his political career will take shape as the Republican Party's socially conservative stance has proven to turn off voters who are becoming increasingly more tolerant toward gay rights.
Later this month, the Supreme Court will hear two cases related to gay marriage. One challenges the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The other case is in regard to California's ban on gay marriage known as Proposition 8.
Watch a clip from Portman's interview on CNN below.
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