Matt R. Salmon, the openly gay son of
Arizona Rep. Matt Salmon, hopes his father will reverse his
opposition to gay marriage.
The elder Salmon, a freshman Republican
congressman, recently told 3TV
that he loves his son but isn't prepared to change his views.
“I don't support the gay marriage,”
Salmon said. “My son is by far one of the most important people in
my life. I love him more than I can say.”
The younger Salmon, a 24-year-old
third-year medical student, told The
Huffington Post that his father disagreed with his decision
to end reparative therapy, which attempts to alter a person's sexual
orientation from gay to straight, while he was an undergraduate at
Arizona State University.
“We still had a loving relationship,
but it was difficult for him to accept and so it was a rough patch,”
he said.
He went on to say that his father's
opposition to gay rights doesn't make him anti-gay.
“My father and I have a great
relationship, he's one of my close friends,” he said.
In a separate interview with CNN's
Anderson Cooper, Salmon conceded that he hoped his conservative
father would have a change of heart on the issue.
“I hope that he changes his
position,” Salmon said. “I hope to get married someday. And so,
I hope that I have that support.” (The video is embedded on this
page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)