A prominent social conservative has
condemned the recent gay marriage endorsements of Republicans Jim
Petro and Ohio Senator Rob Portman.
Last week, Petro, Ohio's former
attorney general, endorsed an effort to repeal Ohio's 2004
voter-approved constitutional amendment which prevents the state from
recognizing any relationship other than a heterosexual marriage.
Petro cited his daughter's
Massachusetts marriage to another woman in announcing that he had
reversed his opposition to marriage equality.
“Seeing their happiness and realizing
all the rights they would be denied in Ohio has proven to me the
importance of equal marriage in our state,” Petro said.
In making his endorsement in March,
Portman credited the coming out of his son Will for changing his
position on the issue, though Portman has said that he does not plan
to campaign in favor of changing Ohio's law.
In an email to supporters, Phil
Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values (CCV), the group
which backed the 2004 initiative, suggested that instead of
supporting their children, Petro and Portman should have attempted to
alter their sexuality from gay to straight.
“The vast majority of parents who
discover that their child is homosexual do not respond the way Mr.
Petro and Mr. Portman responded,” Burress wrote. “Most will
continue to love their child but will speak the truth in love,
explaining to them that homosexual sex is wrong.”
“Apparently, Mr. Petro and Mr.
Portman are in the minority on this one. Due to a child's choice to
act on their same-sex feelings, they want to force all Ohioans to
accept their new flip-flopped position.”
Burress went on to promote the work of
an “ex-gay” ministry that “helped people walk away from their
same-sex attractions.”