QuoteRob Portman reverses stance on gay marriage, says son is gay
WASHINGTON — Sen. Rob Portman has renounced his opposition to gay marriage, telling reporters from Ohio newspapers yesterday that he changed his position after his son Will told him and his wife, Jane, that he is gay.
Portman, an Ohio Republican, made the stunning revelation just a week before the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments on a 1996 federal law asserting that gay marriage is not legal, a measure that Portman co-sponsored as a member of the U.S. House.
But like former President Bill Clinton, who signed the law, Portman now wants the high court to invalidate the law's declaration that marriage is between a man and a woman. Instead, Portman said he would prefer that it be left to the states to decide the definition of marriage.
In an interview in his Senate office, Portman acknowledged that his support for same-sex marriage is a "change in my position that I have had in Congress and also here in the Senate the last couple of years." But he said that change "came about through a process" after Will, now a junior at Yale University, told his parents in February 2011 that he is gay.
"It allowed me to think about this issue from a new perspective and that's as a dad who loves his son a lot and wants him to have the same opportunities that his brother and sister have," Portman said.
Portman said he and Jane were both surprised to learn that their son is gay, but he said they were "very supportive of him," adding that they wanted Will to "know we were 100 percent supportive and we love him. He's an amazing young man."
"If anything, I'm even more proud of the way he has handled the whole situation."
Portman had to deal with his position on the issue just two months later, when a group of students at the University of Michigan Law School protested his selection as a graduation speaker because of what they called his "openly hostile" position on gay rights. According to local media reports, more than 100 students walked out of the ceremony because they disagreed with his opposition to gay marriage.
Portman also informed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney about Will when Portman was being interviewed last year as a potential vice-presidential nominee.
Yesterday, Portman told reporters that he had not considered how it will affect him politically.
While Portman has been a staunch conservative on social issues, including abortion and gun issues, he has been more inclined to focus on economic and budget issues publicly, including during his 2010 campaign against Democrat Lee Fisher.
In addition to his 1996 vote in favor of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, Portman voted in 1999 against allowing gay couples in Washington, D.C., to adopt children.
Portman's staff carefully choreographed yesterday's announcement. They invited reporters from four newspapers — The Dispatch, the Dayton Daily News, The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and the Cincinnati Enquirer.
In addition, Portman wrote an opinion piece for today's Dispatch (Page A17) explaining his shift in same-sex marriage. And he agreed to an interview with CNN that is scheduled to be aired this morning.
Portman said Will encouraged him to make the story public. The Portmans have three children: Jed, 22, Will, 21, and Sally, 18.
Portman's announcement could have a major impact on the nationwide debate on gay marriage. Polls generally show that a majority of Americans now support gay marriage, a number that has sharply increased during the past decade.
In particular, the issue is causing fissures among Republicans who as recently as 2004 were virtually unanimous in their opposition to gay marriage.
Portman said he spoke with the pastor of his church in Cincinnati and opponents of gay marriage about his change in position. In addition, last weekend, he spoke with former Vice President Dick Cheney, whose daughter Mary is gay.
"His advice was: 'Do the right thing. Follow your heart,'" Portman said.
In Ohio, other Republicans have also wrangled with their own personal connection to gay issues. Former Attorney General Jim Petro lost the 2006 GOP primary for governor to J. Kenneth Blackwell in part because Blackwell accused him of being soft on gay-marriage issues. Nonetheless, Petro ran ads promoting his opposition to gay marriage during that campaign.
Petro, however, opposed a successful 2004 ballot issue to define marriage in the Ohio Constitution as being between a man and a woman. At the time, he said he supported legal benefits for same-sex couples.
Six years later, Petro's daughter married a woman in Massachusetts. Petro told The Dispatch last year that he had rethought his opposition to gay marriage, saying such unions are "reasonable" and " something that is good."
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/03/15/portman-reverses-stance-on-gay-marriage-says-son-is-gay.html
Not entirely sure how I feel about people like this.
On one hand, it's good for people to change for the better, to admit mistakes etc. and it is often the personal aspect of it that changes people's minds.
On the other, it makes you kind of a shithead both from the pro-gay perspective ("so you couldn't think about how lack of equality hurts people until it was your own kid?") and from the anti-gay perspective ("so you used to think homosexuality is wrong but now that your son is gay you are fine with it? What if your son was a murderer?").
What do you think?
Now you just need to turn all the other senator sons gay. Revolution from above.
Quote from: Liep on March 15, 2013, 02:49:06 AM
Now you just need to turn all the other senator sons gay. Revolution from above.
Or below. :perv:
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Mart. :sleep:
Amazing how that happens.
Is this why Romney didn't pick Portman as a running mate?
No.
Family photo:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi2.cdn.turner.com%2Fcnn%2Fdam%2Fassets%2F130314232040-portman-and-son-1-c1-main.jpg&hash=b6350abf9055e1a1bc3d2ea9a6abcec1739a3f16)
I'm reminded of the funeral scene in that '80s movie Heathers: "I love my dead gay son!"
He is SO gonna get primaried :menace:
On the other hand, nobody will remember this in 2016 :P
meanwhile, senator Sherrod Brown is still an annoying fucktard.
There was some political ad yesterday on CNN. Married ex-Marine talking about his homo brother, and how he deserves the right to get married, and how good Republicans should support that. Didn't catch who paid for it.
"He was the best man at my wedding, and I hope to be the best man at his." Good line.
Quote from: derspiess on March 15, 2013, 09:29:23 AM
He is SO gonna get primaried :menace:
Do you really think that if he does get primaried, that will be good for the Republican Party?
Boo. Gays are bad, and letting them get married won't make them better. Forcing them to act like humans will make them better.
Quote from: Neil on March 15, 2013, 10:30:01 AM
Boo. Gays are bad, and letting them get married won't make them better. Forcing them to act like humans will make them better.
Letting them take on roles like marriage and child-rearing could help there. Otherwise, we just stick to perpetual adolescence and bachelorhood. :D
Quote from: garbon on March 15, 2013, 10:33:47 AM
Quote from: Neil on March 15, 2013, 10:30:01 AM
Boo. Gays are bad, and letting them get married won't make them better. Forcing them to act like humans will make them better.
Letting them take on roles like marriage and child-rearing could help there. Otherwise, we just stick to perpetual adolescence and bachelorhood. :D
But then you run into the transition period, when they start fucking their children.
Quote from: Neil on March 15, 2013, 10:46:45 AM
Quote from: garbon on March 15, 2013, 10:33:47 AM
Quote from: Neil on March 15, 2013, 10:30:01 AM
Boo. Gays are bad, and letting them get married won't make them better. Forcing them to act like humans will make them better.
Letting them take on roles like marriage and child-rearing could help there. Otherwise, we just stick to perpetual adolescence and bachelorhood. :D
But then you run into the transition period, when they start fucking their children.
Is that you, MSil?
Quote from: Martinus on March 15, 2013, 02:25:53 AM
On the other, it makes you kind of a shithead both from the pro-gay perspective ("so you couldn't think about how lack of equality hurts people until it was your own kid?") and from the anti-gay perspective ("so you used to think homosexuality is wrong but now that your son is gay you are fine with it? What if your son was a murderer?").
People generally need a catalyst to rethink positions they've held all their lives. Though I suspect what's in the article is an oversimplification of the thought process he went through.
So:
QuoteDon't look a gift horse in the mouth, Mart.
Also applicable to Oregon Republicans if they want to run a candidate who is defined by his anti-gay stance rather than taxes and business(as any candidate who beats Portman will be).
Quote from: garbon on March 15, 2013, 10:48:08 AM
Quote from: Neil on March 15, 2013, 10:46:45 AM
Quote from: garbon on March 15, 2013, 10:33:47 AM
Quote from: Neil on March 15, 2013, 10:30:01 AM
Boo. Gays are bad, and letting them get married won't make them better. Forcing them to act like humans will make them better.
Letting them take on roles like marriage and child-rearing could help there. Otherwise, we just stick to perpetual adolescence and bachelorhood. :D
But then you run into the transition period, when they start fucking their children.
Is that you, MSil?
I don't know. Am I me?
Quote from: Martinus on March 15, 2013, 02:25:53 AM
Not entirely sure how I feel about people like this.
Good god. So it's not just okay for people to change their minds and support marriage equality; now they have to do it according to Martinus' Approved List of Motivations?
Quote from: fahdiz on March 15, 2013, 11:42:36 AM
Quote from: Martinus on March 15, 2013, 02:25:53 AM
Not entirely sure how I feel about people like this.
Good god. So it's not just okay for people to change their minds and support marriage equality; now they have to do it according to Martinus' Approved List of Motivations?
To be fair though it does highlight one as having a weak and/or hypocritical character.
It is pretty obvious before he didn't care so he just went along with whatever his base wanted. Outside of a few pet issues most politicians are like this.
Quote from: garbon on March 15, 2013, 11:43:46 AM
To be fair though it does highlight one as having a weak and/or hypocritical character.
He's a politician. :mellow:
Quote from: Valmy on March 15, 2013, 11:46:33 AM
It is pretty obvious before he didn't care so he just went along with whatever his base wanted. Outside of a few pet issues most politicians are like this.
Rand Paul :showoff:
Quote from: fahdiz on March 15, 2013, 11:54:51 AM
Quote from: garbon on March 15, 2013, 11:43:46 AM
To be fair though it does highlight one as having a weak and/or hypocritical character.
He's a politician. :mellow:
Some of us expect better from our politicians. :angry:
Quote from: garbon on March 15, 2013, 12:01:43 PM
Some of us expect better from our politicians. :angry:
Personally I expect (as in "forecast", not as in "wish/hope") them to continue to exhibit exactly the same qualities which got them to their current position.
Every once in a while, though, they have a personal experience which cuts through the bullshit and gives them a new insight. It doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen.
Quote from: fahdiz on March 15, 2013, 11:42:36 AM
Quote from: Martinus on March 15, 2013, 02:25:53 AM
Not entirely sure how I feel about people like this.
Good god. So it's not just okay for people to change their minds and support marriage equality; now they have to do it according to Martinus' Approved List of Motivations?
Marty wants to be sure there are still people he can hate after everyone has signed on to gay marriage.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 15, 2013, 12:05:25 PM
Quote from: fahdiz on March 15, 2013, 11:42:36 AM
Quote from: Martinus on March 15, 2013, 02:25:53 AM
Not entirely sure how I feel about people like this.
Good god. So it's not just okay for people to change their minds and support marriage equality; now they have to do it according to Martinus' Approved List of Motivations?
Marty wants to be sure there are still people he can hate after everyone has signed on to gay marriage.
I don't think he's going to have any problems.
Too late. Barry Goldwater did this thirty years ago.
Quote from: Valmy on March 15, 2013, 11:46:33 AM
It is pretty obvious before he didn't care so he just went along with whatever his base wanted. Outside of a few pet issues most politicians are like this.
Yes, but if the issue you don't care about affects so directly lives of people, and you still deny them their rights, you are a douchebag.
Pet issues?
Quote from: Martinus on March 15, 2013, 02:48:42 PM
Quote from: Valmy on March 15, 2013, 11:46:33 AM
It is pretty obvious before he didn't care so he just went along with whatever his base wanted. Outside of a few pet issues most politicians are like this.
Yes, but if the issue you don't care about affects so directly lives of people, and you still deny them their rights, you are a douchebag.
And now he's realized his mistake. MOVING THE FUCK ON
No, I don't think Martinus has realized his mistake yet.
Quote from: garbon on March 15, 2013, 12:01:43 PM
Quote from: fahdiz on March 15, 2013, 11:54:51 AM
Quote from: garbon on March 15, 2013, 11:43:46 AM
To be fair though it does highlight one as having a weak and/or hypocritical character.
He's a politician. :mellow:
Some of us expect better from our politicians. :angry:
Wrong. You're just another fag who can't handle tolerance.
Quote from: Martinus on March 15, 2013, 02:48:42 PM
Quote from: Valmy on March 15, 2013, 11:46:33 AM
It is pretty obvious before he didn't care so he just went along with whatever his base wanted. Outside of a few pet issues most politicians are like this.
Yes, but if the issue you don't care about affects so directly lives of people, and you still deny them their rights, you are a douchebag.
Every issue directly affects the lives of people. You're pathetic.
Yeah, Mart wouldn't give a damn about gays if he wasn't one, so he doesn't have much room to talk here.
Quote from: Razgovory on March 15, 2013, 09:16:14 PM
Yeah, Mart wouldn't give a damn about gays if he wasn't one, so he doesn't have much room to talk here.
I guess in a way we're lucky. If he was straight, imagine all the threads about obscure international commercial contracts (IIRC, international commercial contract law being what Marti specializes in).
Somehow I think he'd garner less attention if he did that.
hmm, yeah, on the one hand good he's realised this.
On the other hand....not good for a politician to say he has flip flopped because it now affects him personally no?
Quote
I guess in a way we're lucky. If he was straight, imagine all the threads about obscure international commercial contracts (IIRC, international commercial contract law being what Marti specializes in).
Alternative universe languish is full of Marti posting threads about womens' shoes.
Quote from: JosqoAlternative universe languish is full of Marti posting threads about womens' shoes.
^_^