Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who
last year endorsed gay marriage, said Wednesday that its legality is
“inevitable.”
“I think it's inevitable. I think
we're on a pathway,” Huntsman, a 2012 GOP president candidate, told
reporters.
“That's my own personal opinion. It
may not be the opinion of your duly elected officials. You have to
defer to your duly elected officials to decide where they want to go
on it,” he said.
Utah is one of three states which have
asked the Supreme Court to review lower court rulings striking down
state marriage bans. The other two states are Oklahoma and Virginia.
“[I have] already spoken out why I
think it's the right thing to do, to recognize same-sex marriage,”
he added. “But these things don't happen overnight. It's
step-by-step and it's an evolution that, in this case, is taking us
somewhere.”
Earlier this year, Utah Senator Orrin
Hatch, also a Republican, said “anybody who does not believe that
gay marriage is going to be the law of the land just hasn't been
observing what's going on.”