Florida Governor – and U.S. Senate
hopeful – Charlie Crist said Sunday that he supports putting a gay
marriage ban in the U.S. Constitution.
Speaking on CNN's State of the
Union, Crist said: “When it comes to marriage, I think it is a
sacred institution, I believe it is between a man and a woman.”
But Crist, who is running in Florida's
Senate race as an independent, added that he's a “live and let live
kind of guy.”
“[P]artners living together, you
know, I don't have a problem with it,” he said. “It's just how I
feel.”
Gay activists in Florida had hoped that
having left the GOP behind, Crist would come out in favor of gay
rights. In a June interview with Time magazine, Crist
suggested he was contemplating a change of heart.
In that interview, he came close to
saying he's in favor of allowing gay people to adopt.
Florida is the only state in the nation
that bans gay men and lesbians from adopting children outright. Last
year, a judge ruled the law to be unconstitutional and the state
appealed.
“I think probably the best decision
maker would be a judge,” Crist said on the issue. “Currently, we
have a law on the books in Florida though that precludes that from
happening. I'm sure that a future Legislature and maybe the next
governor might address that issue.”
But even in June, the governor, who's
been the subject of numerous gay rumors himself, disappointed gay
marriage backers when he said that he supports government recognition
of gay couples with civil unions, not marriage.
UPDATE: Charlie
Crist says he does not support a federal gay marriage ban.