Senator Rob Portman Flip-Flops on Gay Marriage

Senator Rob Portman redefined the phrase ‘flip-flop’ today with his position on the most sensitive topic for contemporary conservatives: gay marriage. Just the very word brought major criticism to the Republican Party in the last election cycle, and now another member of Mitt Romney’s party is under fire for reverting on a social issue. Ohio Senator Rob Portman, Romney’s debate trainer and once-rumored VP contender, has officially changed his position on gay marriage, after learning that his son Will is gay. This is pretty noteworthy, considering that Portman was one of the original supporters of the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act, as well as a sponsor of a constitutional amendment to define marriage as being only between one man and one woman.

Portman is now calling for states to decide their own positions on gay marriage - a traditionally libertarian perspective, and one that he sees as being important to the vitality of the GOP among youth. Portman has also said that federal law should allow gay couples to receive the same benefits that straight married couples currently receive.

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