Children of prominent Republican lawmakers have been influencing their elders to end their opposition to gay rights and in some cases to openly embrace single-sex marriage,
Politico reported.
The Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments Tuesday on whether same-sex marriage is protected by the Constitution.
"Within prominent Republican families," according to Politico "gay, transgender, and straight" children "are playing decisive roles in changing their parents' views."
The first U.S. senator to declare his support for single-sex marriage was Ohio's Rob Portman in 2013. Two years earlier, his son Will told his parents that he was gay.
Ryan Flake began talking to his father, Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, about homosexuality after his best friend announced his was gay.
"I'm not saying he supports marriage equality. I can't say that," Ryan told Politico. "I do think his views have evolved."
Rep. Matt Salmon of Arizona continues to oppose gay marriage, though his son Matt R. Salmon came out as gay. But the younger Salmon's mother, Nancy, is no longer campaigning against gay marriage. "There are opinions that my father privately holds that are different from his political positions that make them difficult to share," he told Politico.
Some 61 percent of Republicans ages 18-29 support single-sex marriage, while 22 percent of those 65 years old and up are opposed, according to Politico.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has said he is considering the argument made by his son Alex that the government should not be regulating marriage. Alex was a witness at the marriage of a lesbian relation of Walker's wife.
Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has a transgender son, Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen. She is one of 300 Republicans to have signed a "friend of the court" brief filed with the Supreme Court in support of single-sex marriage.
And Seth Hutchinson successfully lobbied his father, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, not to sign a "religious freedom" bill, according to Politico.
Arizona Sen. John McCain's daughter Meghan, a gay rights activist, has not changed his views on gay marriage.
"There's tension when I go home on occasion, but my father and I get along great. Obviously, I wish he would come around publicly for LGBT rights and marriage equality, but he's 80-years-old," she told Politico.
The great-nephew of conservative icon William F. Buckley, founder of National Review, announced that he was gay. Sean Buckley is making the pro-gay case to family elders and said they appear to accept that homosexual rights are "inevitable," according to Politico.
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