House Assistant Minority Leader James
Clyburn is the latest Democrat to express support for gay marriage
following President Barack Obama's backing.
Appearing
on MSNBC, Clyburn, who in 1996 voted for the Defense of Marriage
Act (DOMA), which forbids federal agencies from recognizing the legal
marriages of gay and lesbian couples, said that he had also “evolved”
on the issue.
“I, like the president, have evolved
to a point of marriage equality,” Clyburn said. “I have not
always been there. I grew up in a parsonage, a fundamentalist
Christian parsonage, and I grew up with that indoctrination. And I
have grown to the point that I believe that we have evolved to
marriage equality.”
But the South Carolina Democrat
disagreed with Obama on his approach to the issue.
“If we consider this to be a civil
right – and I do – I don't think civil rights ought to be left up
to a state-by-state approach. I think that we should have a national
policy on this.”
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, a
Maryland Democrat, also came out in favor of gay nuptials following
the president's announcement. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, inched closer to full support,
saying in a statement that he personally believes marriage is a
heterosexual union but adding that “in a civil society, I believe
that people should be able to marry whomever they want.”