An Ohio group is calling on members to
oppose Ohio Senator Rob Portman's reelection over his support for gay
marriage.
Portman last week became the first GOP
senator to publicly buck the party's official stance on the issue.
In an op-ed and later in interviews
with CNN and the AP, Portman, a co-sponsor of the Defense of Marriage
Act (DOMA), said he had dropped his opposition to marriage equality
after his son, Will Portman, told him and his wife Jane that he's
gay.
Citizens for Community Values, the
group which led the 2004 campaign to approve Ohio's constitutional
amendment that prevents the state from recognizing any relationship
other than a heterosexual marriage, blasted Portman for telling the
AP that response to his announcement has been mostly positive.
The Christian conservative group
encouraged members to send Portman an email expressing disappointment
with his new stance and vowing not to vote for him in 2016.
“I strongly disagree with your choice
to support same-sex marriage,” the group's pre-written form email
says. “I understand you've made a difficult family decision. But
your personal situation won't change the principle of natural
marriage overwhelmingly supported by the Republican Party.”
“You are now at odds with the
National Republican Platform, the Ohio Republican Platform, Speaker
of the House John Boehner, Ohio Governor John Kasich, as well as the
majority of Republicans who elected you to represent them. Your
support of same-sex marriage is a serious breach of the trust I had
placed in you and I won't vote for you again.”