Texas Gov. Rick Perry has flip-flopped on remarks made last week regarding marriage equality, telling the Family Research Council on Thursday that “Obviously, gay marriage is not fine with me.”
Perry, speaking to a group of Republican donors at the Aspen Institute in Colorado last Friday, said he recognizes the role and importance of the 10th Amendment in American politics.
“Our friends in New York six weeks ago passed a statute that said marriage can be between two people of the same sex. And you know what? That’s New York, and that’s their business, and that’s fine with me … If you believe in the 10th Amendment, stay out of their business.”
But Perry’s comments kicked up a firestorm among social conservatives and the GOP presidential field of candidates.
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In his first interview on the issue since making those comments, Gov. Perry spoke with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins today to addresses the Aspen remarks, discuss the 10th Amendment’s application to marriage, and his support for a federal marriage amendment.
Gov. Perry commented: “I probably needed to add a few words after that ‘it’s fine with me,’ and that it’s fine with me that a state is using their sovereign rights to decide an issue. Obviously gay marriage is not fine with me. My stance hasn’t changed.”
Perry has also partnered with the anti-gay hate group American Family Association (AFA) in calling for a day of “fasting and prayer.”
Perry’s prayer plan includes co-hosting a major Christian worship event to be held in a Houston stadium on August 6, where worshipers will pray for a “historic breakthrough for our country and a renewed sense of moral purpose.”
Both the AFA and the FRC have been labeled as anti-gay hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
