Former Tennessee Representative Harold
Ford Jr. is the latest member of Congress to flip in favor of gay
marriage.
Ford voted in favor of placing a gay
marriage ban in the U.S. Constitution. In 2004 and again in 2006, he
crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans in favor of the Federal
Marriage Amendment.
But lately the thirty-nine-year-old
politician has been singing a different tune, telling Today Show
host Matt Lauer that he now supports giving gay and lesbian
couples the right to marry.
When Lauer asked if it was a “change”
in position, he answered: “Maybe in the language. But I'm a
believer that benefits should flow to same sex partners and if indeed
the fiction of the language, the title should be changed, much like
Chuck Schumer who changed his mind on it and Bill Clinton's evolved,
I'm of the opinion now that nothing is wrong with that.”
The early morning appearance is certain
to ratchet up speculation that Ford, who now lives in New York, is
contemplating a challenge to New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for
her Senate seat. Gillibrand has positioned herself as a gay rights
ally, a move that recently earned her the endorsement of the Human
Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights advocate.