Former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming, a Republican, says it’s time to “live and let live” and allow same-sex couples the freedom to marry.
Just days before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit kicks off a wave of hearings and rulings on the freedom to marry at the appellate level, Freedom to Marry is releasing a national television ad featuring Simpson, 82, who makes the conservative case for marriage for same-sex couples.
“I’m a Republican, and the party’s basic core is government out of your life and the right to be left alone. Whether you’re gay or lesbian or straight, if you love someone, and you want to marry them – marry them … Live and let live. It is very simple,” says Simpson.
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The ad begins airing Tuesday on national cable outlets, network Sunday political shows in Washington, D.C., and in the TV markets for Colorado, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.
On Thursday, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in an appeal of a December ruling that Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional (see preview here). On April 17, the court will hear an appeal on a ruling striking down Oklahoma’s same-sex marriage ban.
The Tenth Circuit appeals court encompasses six states – Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming – and the ruling in those cases could affect all six states.
Follow the Utah case here, and the Oklahoma case here.
