The daughter of former President Ronald
Reagan believes he would have backed gay marriage.
Patti Davis, the daughter of Reagan and
his second wife, Nancy, is promoting her self-published novel Till
Human Voices Wake Us, which tells the story of sisters-in-law who
fall in love and leave their husbands.
In an appearance on Gwisssues,
Davis told host Howard Bragman that her Republican father, who died
in 2004, would be “puzzled at why anyone would have a problem with
people wanting to be married and wanting to be committed to one
another.”
“And I also think, because he wanted
government out of people's lives, that he would not understand the
intrusion of government banning such a thing. This is not what he
would have thought government should be doing,” she added. (The
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Phyllis Schlafly, an outspoken opponent
of gay rights, rejected Davis' assertions.
“Of course, Reagan did associate with
all the Hollywood crowd,” Schlafly told The New York Times,
“and chances are he probably knew a number of gays. I could
understand that he might not have wanted to bar them from a job but
that would not mean he would want them to get a marriage license.”
Davis is not the only Reagan child
speaking out on the subject. Michael Reagan recently wrote an op-ed
stating that marriage equality would lead to polygamy.
(Related: Michael
Reagan defends saying gay marriage would lead to polygamy, murder.)