COLUMBUS, Ohio — The chairman of the Ohio Republican Party says the state GOP will continue to stand behind U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, who has announced his support of marriage equality for gays and lesbians.
Bob Bennett
“Certainly, you can’t question Rob’s conservative credentials when it comes to issues affecting the Republican Party,” Bennett said in an interview. “I think we’ll be fine. And the party is a big tent. We welcome people holding a wide range of positions on some very difficult issues.”
Still, Bennett said the state GOP received a flurry of phone calls for about two hours on Friday morning from people upset about Portman’s stance. But he said the calls were fewer in number than those offering their opinions on Republican Gov. John Kasich’s state budget proposal.
Portman told reporters Thursday in Washington that his views began changing in 2011 when his college-age son, Will, told his parents he was gay. In an op-ed published Friday in The Columbus Dispatch, he said the decision came after much thought.
“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,” he wrote.
As a member of the House in 1996, Portman voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman and bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage. Portman’s reversal makes him the only Senate Republican to back gay marriage.
Asked whether Portman’s decision would change the level of financial support or help from the state GOP party, Bennett said, “Absolutely not.”
Portman does not face re-election until 2016. He won his seat in 2010 with almost 57 percent of the vote.
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and perhaps Portman can help change their minds on equality!
It’s amazing how fast views are changed when you’ve got to deal with them on a personal level.
then stop fighting for DOMA.
This is promising. A year ago they would’ve kicked him to the curb…
Portman and Cheney…Alas we need more of them.
The GOP is beginning to pander, and only because they know full well that they need to improve the party’s brand before 2014 or risk losing it ALL!
This is nothing more than a ploy to divide the vote people. They’ve done truckloads of harm to all of us but only offer a nod of “acceptance” in return, they’re hoping we’ll all be dumb enough to fall for. Kick them out in 2014!!!
With Portman, I may feel there’s some authenticity…with this, the possibility of pandering does become very real. And I worry that a softening of GOP opposition to LGBT marriage equality will encourage LGBT folks to vote for them despite their war on all women, on the poor and upon undocumented immigrants. As a gay man, I won’t vote for a Gay Repugnican in ANY circumstance, for it would simply reinforce their hateful behavior and economic destruction of this country.
this one I don’t believe…….if they really feel that way then they need to repeal that BS ammendmant to the constitution of ohio making anything not a traditional marriage non existent……(if I remember correctly it was passed back around 2002)