Which presidential hopefuls say they would attend a gay wedding?
WASHINGTON — When it comes to attending a gay wedding, not all presidential aspirants say, “I do.”
It sounded like a simple question to ask a potential leader of the free world: Would you attend a gay wedding?
But it has become a new kind of conservative litmus test for potential presidential candidates on a key social issue.
Most of the GOP hopefuls stand squarely in the traditional camp of defining marriage as between a man and a woman, and they oppose efforts to legalize gay marriage nationwide.
But would attending the gay wedding of a friend or family member be a bridge too far? The question was first posed this week to Sen. Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican, after the 43-year-old launched his presidential campaign.
“If it’s somebody in my life that I care for, of course I would,” Rubio told Fusion’s Jorge Ramos. “I’m not going to hurt them simply because I disagree with a choice they ’ve made,” he said. “You respect that because you love them.”
Not so fast, said former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum. The conservative Catholic, who expects to use family values to attract a wide following if he jumps into the race, drew the line at gay marriages.
“No, I would not,” Santorum told radio host Hugh Hewitt. “As a person of my faith, that would be something that would be a violation of my faith. I would love them and support them, but I would not participate in that ceremony.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, seemed to wriggle out of the question, saying he had not yet been invited to any gay weddings so he had not considered whether he would attend such a bash.
Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, also does not appear to have faced the question, though he joined most of the other Republican hopefuls in siding with a recent Indiana measure that gay rights advocates feared would allow businesses to refuse services to gay people on religious grounds.“This is simply allowing people of faith space to express their beliefs,” Bush said before the Indiana legislature.
Public attitudes toward gay marriage have been among the most rapidly changing of any social issue as polls show voters have essentially flipped in recent years to support it. The swift and unexpected shift has forced Democratic and Republican candidates to adjust with the times.
A spokeswoman for the Democratic front-runner, Hillary Rodham Clinton, said Thursday she would like to see the Supreme Court clear the way for same-sex couples to marry.
The high court will be asked later this month to strike down the remaining state bans on gay marriage.