14 DAY TRIAL // Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman has reversed his decision on allowing gay marriage after finding out that his own son is gay.
Portman will be opposing a 1996 federal law that regulates the illegal nature of gay marriage. Critics of the Defense Of Marriage Act will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in less than a week, the Columbus Dispatch clarifies.
Portman supported the law at the time, as did the President Bill Clinton, who will also be fighting it. Three years later, he voted to ban Washington D.C. gay couples from adopting.
The lawmaker explains changing his stance on gay marriage by revealing that his son has come out in February 2011, prompting him to rethink his position.
He is quoted by Cleveland Plain Dealer describing how Will, a 21-year-old junior at Yale University, has explained always being attracted to men, and not choosing to be gay.
“It was not a choice, it was who he is and that he had been that way since he could remember.
“It allowed me to think of this issue from a new perspective, and that's of a Dad who loves his son a lot and wants him to have the same opportunities that his brother and sister would have - to have a relationship like Jane and I have had for over 26 years,” Portman says.
He suggests that, although he wishes for his son to be able to wed his partner, every state should be allowed to decide on the matter.
“The overriding message of love and compassion that I take from the Bible, and certainly the Golden Rule, and the fact that I believe we are all created by our maker, that has all influenced me in terms of my change on this issue,” the Senator says.