Two prominent Republicans, Rick
Santorum and Newt Gingrich, have weighed in on Ohio Senator Rob
Portman's sudden shift on gay marriage.
Portman, a Republican, on Friday
announced that he had reversed his stance on the issue, revealing
that his son, Will Portman, had come out to him and his wife two
years earlier. Portman is the first GOP senator to buck the party's
official stance.
In an op-ed and later in a sit down
with CNN, Portman added that he was not prepared to advocate on the
issue. A critical point, considering marriage equality advocates are
working to repeal Ohio's amendment defining marriage as a
heterosexual union.
(Related: Senator
Rob Portman reverses course on gay marriage.)
Santorum and Gingrich used similar
analogies in discussing Portman's new stance.
“I think when you have somebody in
your immediate family who comes [out], you have three choices: You
can say, 'I believe in my principals so much I'm kicking you out,'
you can say, 'I still believe in my principals but I love you,' or
you can say, 'Gee, I love you so much, I'm changing my principals,'”
Gingrich said on CNN.
“Rob picked the third path. That's
his prerogative. I'm not going to second guess him.”
Santorum told CNN from CPAC: “We all
actually do things that don't actually measure up to what you think
you should do. And we can adjust our bar and say, 'We're just going
to change the bar.' And we're going to say that the things that we
didn't think we now do and it's okay. Or we can keep the bar where
it is, because that's where it should be. And try and say, 'You know
what,we fall short.'”
(Related: Phil
Burress urged Rob Portman to reject his gay son.)