Comments

1
It is huge news. It's also an emerging angst for democrats who think that they had the gay vote in their back pocket and it was just a matter of time before the republican party fell into the ash heap of history. In fact, Rand Paul stated in his CPAC speech:
The new GOP will need to embrace liberty in both the economic and the personal sphere. if we're going to have a Republican Party that can win, liberty needs to be the backbone of the GOP.
2
It's kind of annoying that they don't support something until it affects them personally...but at this rate, those freaks at NOM are going to be the last few people in America still fighting against gay rights.
3
The family connection wins again!
4
Here are the ongoing results from an online poll that Cincinnati Enquirer is running:

http://desktop.websurveyor.net/analysis/…

(You might be able to do the three-question survey at http://vovici.com/wsb.dll/s/5953g52e8b )

The first question is dumb: "Does this make you more likely to support same-sex marriage?" If one already strongly supports same-sex marriage how are they supposed to answer?

5
Funny how positions do an about face when they become a family reality. Good that he stepped up, but it shouldn't have to take your child coming out for you to take the ethical stand in the first place.
6
@5: That's how minds are changed about a lot of issues. I suggest you be more accepting; some people just take longer to come around to what's right.
7
@1 I liked libertarians better when they were just a bunch of anti-war pot smokers who wanted to be left alone to live off the land.

No worries though they'll change. "Fashion turn to the left, Fashion turn to the right."

Though I'll grant this particular group of libertarians is noisy, or maybe I'm just older and wish they'd get off of the lawn.
8
Oh wait I got distracted this post was about Rob Portman. He's an Ohio boy, well its all good then. Yeah of course he has come out in favor of Gay rights after his son came out.

In the end Ohio Republicans trend towards the practical.

9
Perhaps if his gay son moves out of state, Senator Portman will support equal rights across state lines.

He's slightly less scummy than he was before, but he's still scum. He is a Republican after all.
10
@1 - "Liberty"? That's rich considering that 2 years ago Rand Paul claimed businesses should have the right to discriminate irrespective of civil rights law.
11
It's really just a matter of a few years now. The only holdouts will, unsurprisingly, be those members of the GOP innthe South and those who would be most at home in the South.
12
And the gay marriage avalanche keeps on rolling downhill. Not even the Supreme Court could stop it. Stubborn opponents now have to decide whether to look increasingly ridiculous or to swallow their pride and quietly admit that they were wrong, hopefully without making a big splash.

Better late than never, Rob. I guess.
13
Rob be hope'n to get suma-dat sweet-ass GAY vote like Obama did...

Yeah! When can we start marrying our favorite chairs? I LOVE my chair. And marriage is all about love, right libs?
14
#13 - yep, love between two human beings. Strange that you don't seem able to grasp that concept. Maybe you've never known human love?
15
Does no one recall how pro-hisBigGayDaughter Cheney was/is? Did this help one iota in the last 12 years with teh bigots?
16
Good news, basically in line with my parents views. Republicans they are, but they dont care if gays get married, adopt or serve in our military. More and more Republicans are giving up on this stupid fight of gays vs straights.

Whats shameful is the conservative response to Senator Portman's change of heart. "He's pandering for votes", or "He's only doing this because it affected him personally" and the ever obvious "I have many gay friends and it still doesn't change my stance that gays should not be allowed to marry."

Get ready to wince in horror.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news…

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news…
17
@15, I despise Darth Cheney as much as the next guy, but I actually do think his support of his BigGayDaughter did help the cause. Not amongst conservative republicans or true bigots, of course. His own party is still officially adamantly opposed to marriage equality. But millions of people in the middle of the political spectrum all over the county have changed their minds on gay marriage in the last decade. And Cheney, curse his black artificial heart, is probably nominally responsible for some of those changed minds.
18
At this point, this is anti-climatic. The corner was turned years ago, and that was made explicitly clear by the ballot box victories last fall. Of course Republicans are going to come around.

The question is, will this be more fuel for a civil war within the GOP? As Paul notes, the real interest is in how the hard right asshats at CPAC take it.
19
Vice is a monster of so frightful mien
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
20
@10: yup, Libertarians believe that people aught to be able to do whatever the fuck they want. Open a restaurant with no Blacks or Asians allowed? No problem. They have authority issues so refuse to accept a smidgen of human decency basic standards.
21
@13: Your ebonics sucks.
@19: Familiarity breeds contempt.
22
@14: Well, you said it yourself -- two human beings. Gene's chair is closer to the mark than he is.
23
Jesus fuck, people. Some of you really need to learn to take yes for an answer. This is great news. The wave is crashing.
24
@13: I support your right to marry your chair, complete with the ability for your chair to visit you in the hospital, and your right to leave your possessions to your chair when you die.

Because I do not want to stand in the way of people's happiness just because I disagree with them or have my own sexual hang ups. It really is quite simple.

25
Not impressed. Republicans tend to be against stuff until it directly affects them. He hasn't suddenly gotten compassion. He hasn't suddenly been graced with an opened mind. He just suddenly got a gay son. This is like Nancy Reagan suddenly being for stem cell research because Ronnie needed it. If his son hadn't come out, he would still be bashing away and fighting against equality. And he really isn't even coming out for gay marriage, just saying that states should regulate it. Horseshit!
26
@ 23, unless this has a direct impact on DOMA (and there's little reason to assume that it will), this is a minor thing. I won't question Portman's intentions given that he has accepted his gay son. My "meh" reaction may be more due to lack of sleep than genuine insight to its portent for LGBT equality, but I think that it's importance is more to GOP internal politics.

The wave already crashed. It began peaking a few years ago, and hit when Washington and another state actually affirmed full marriage equality by popular vote. DOMA is doomed, even if SCOTUS upholds it. It won't survive the next Democratic majority in the House, and it might not even take that long if a few more 'pubs jettison the bigots. That may well happen if enough of them are brave enough to face the bigots down, which should not be too hard given their ever shrinking numbers.
27
"he changed his position after his son Will told him and his wife, Jane, that he is gay."

As Andrew Sullivan and many other gay writers say--the single most powerful political act a GLBT person can take is to come out to family. Portman is probably the rule here rather than the exception.

So for all the closeted people out there over the age of 21--get over yourself and come out. It's better for everyone.
28
Now if only Portman found out that his son didn't have healthcare coverage and was trying to raise a family on the minimum wage we could really start getting somewhere.
29
@16. Wow. Wince is right. Folks here who are thinking that conservatives will suddenly embrace gay marriage should read the comments on freepublic.com. Not pretty. That said, the GOP is clearly staking out a more centrist position, much like Obama was in favor of Civil Unions only not that long ago. Remember that?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news…

"Unicorns are gay. Teddy bears and pink ponies are gay. Homosexuals are not gay. They are miserable, self loathing sexual perverts and a tiny fraction of the total population; a fringe group provided extra - ordinary power and protected class status by secular humanists on the left to drive a wedge against traditional Christian family values...and now the GOP wants to embrace that. To hell with them."
30
@28 FTW
31
One at a time. I'm not particularly impressed by him, either, but I've long been convinced that the biggest issue is essentially giving people who don't care one way or the other the social permission to be on our side.

Democrats and people in democratic areas have had that permission for a while now, and we're seeing it - more and more people who vote for us because "Well, why shouldn't I? What harm are they doing anybody" rather than because the feel strongly about us as people.

That has to happen on the Republican side, too. We're seeing more and more openly religious people coming out as allies, and things like this from Portman and other Republicans who "only" do it because of family just open that door wider.

I can see this as a good thing and thank him for his change without nominating him for sainthood.
32
I only wish his dedication to civil rights extended outside his nuclear family. Still a happy evolution.
34
Typical conservative . "If it effects other people, who cares. But when it effects *ME*....."

Because in their Randian universe, it's all about *ME*
35
Are we not also hypocrites if we cheer when a hypocrite happens to do the right thing?
36
@35. A measure of character is not only what people believe, but *why* they believe it. There is a profound difference between believing in the right thing because its good for *you* and believing in the right thing because its good for others.
37
Eventually, this will all become a non-issue. LGBT equal rights will become the accepted standard across the country. I just hope that all the gays who needed the help of straight women to get those rights remember us when all those rights are achieved. Because we will still be fighting for those rights. The right to control our own bodies. The right to our choice of birth control. The right to decide if we do or do not want to be pregnant. The right to not be raped and then blamed for that rape. The right to equal pay for equal work. The right to sit on the board of a company without it being a surprising exception. The right to an equal education. The right to simply be treated as an equal human being. Christ.
38
@16 Actually, Kinison, I'm kind of enjoying reading the freaks.
39
Nice of him to include Lesbians in his sudden open mindedness. I'm sure he still hates black and brown peoples and the poor and the Muslims though.
40
Oh man that poor kid. How much more courage does it take to come out when you know it might for instance stop your dad from being vice president when Romney learns about it. Many many kudos to Will Portman.
43
@41 what
44
What is a "Gay" right? Gay people have the same rights as everyone else.

For example, if a gay person wanted to marry a person of the opposite sex, they could, just like anyone else (up until recently here in WA).

45
@44: What is a "black" right? Black people used to have the same rights as everyone else.
For example, if a black person wanted to marry a person of the same race, they could, just like anyone else (until the Loving v. Virginia).

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