COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio’s Republican Senator, one of the most active opponents of same-sex marriage, announced yesterday that he has reversed his position since learning one of his sons is gay.
“I’m announcing today a change of heart,” he told reporters from the state’s major newspapers yesterday.
He also explained his change of position in an op-ed for the Columbus Dispatch.
One of the co-sponsors of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act as a Congressman, Portman now says government shouldn’t deny same-sex couples the opportunity to have “joy and stability.”
Portman says he was staunchly against gay marriage until 2011, when his son came out and changed his perspective.
“My son came to Jane, my, wife and I and told us that he was gay and that it was not a choice and that that’s just part of who he is, he’d been that was ever since he could remember. And, that launched an interesting process for me,” Portman said.
The Supreme Court next week hears arguments on a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage, and the “Dispatch” reports that Portman believes the court should strike down the portion of the law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
