Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, Jr., a
Democrat, is under attack for endorsing gay marriage.
Casey, a Catholic, announced his new
stance on the issue on Monday.
“As a senator and as a citizen, I can
no longer in good conscience take a position that denies [gay
couples] the full measure of equality and respect,” he said in a
statement given to the Philadelphia Gay News.
The Christian conservative American
Family Association assailed Casey, a long supporter of civil unions,
saying that he had “leaped over the cliff and into the unknown
territory of redefining society's foundational block.”
“Casey's support of civil unions
which have been used as a stepping stone to same-sex marriage in
every state they've been legalized was troubling enough, but for him
to totally reject one man one woman marriage as God's only plan for
marriage is a bridge too far,” said Diane Gramley, president of
AFA. “We need strong leaders who are willing to stand up and do
what is right no matter what type of pressure is exerted by special
interest groups that are seeking to redefine marriage and remake the
United States.”
Scranton Bishop Joseph C. Bambera said
that “Casey's position is contrary to the teaching of the Catholic
Church.”
“Senator Casey has unfortunately and
disappointingly set aside the Catholic belief and teaching that the
sacrament of marriage, rooted in the natural law, is a faithful,
exclusive, lifelong, loving union of a man and a woman open to the
transmission of human life,” Bambera
said in a statement.
With the Tuesday announcement that
Illinois
Senator Mark Kirk, a Republican, favors marriage equality, the
Senate is now evenly divided on the issue.