Richard Tisei Skips GOP Rally Over Party's Opposition To Gay Marriage

Richard Tisei, the openly gay Republican congressional candidate from Massachusetts, is skipping the GOP's annual state convention over the party's opposition to gay marriage.

More than 2,000 people are expected to attend Saturday's rally at Boston University's Agganis Arena.

“By going, I feel as though I'd be giving tacit approval to it,” Tisei is quoted as saying by the Lowell Sun. “And I believe that it's a step backwards for the Republican Party in the state, rather than moving forward. The Republican Party should be promoting an agenda that centers around freedom and giving people more choices.”

Instead of the convention, Tisei, a former state senator who married his husband Bernie Starr last summer, attended a Kiwanis Club pancake breakfast.

“Packed house for the Kiwanis pancake breakfast in Danvers,” he tweeted to his more than 2,500 followers.

(Related: John Boehner says “I do” to gay candidates Richard Tsei, Carl DeMaio.)