Rep. Accepts Gay Son, But Won’t Change His View on Marriage

Arizona Republican Rep. Matt J. Salmon said in a local TV interview that he loves and supports his gay son, but that doesn’t change his longstanding opposition to same-sex marriage.

“I don’t support gay marriage,” Salmon said in the interview with Phoenix’s 3TV.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, recently announced a reversal on his views on same-sex marriage because he wants his son, who is gay, to have the same ability to marry.

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But Salmon said he hasn’t yet “evolved to that stage."

“It doesn’t mean that I don’t have respect, it doesn’t mean that I don’t sympathize with some of the issues,” Salmon said.

Salmon’s son, Matt R. Salmon, is a Republican activist himself, a former leader in pro-gay rights Arizona Log Cabin Republicans.

“We respect each others’ opinions and we just know that on certain issues we have to agree to disagree,” the yonger Salmon told The Washington Post.