As the Supreme Court hears oral arguments today on a landmark gay marriage case, every single GOP presidential candidate continues to oppose gay marriage, with Scott Walker going as far as supporting a constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality and Ted Cruz offering legislation that would invalidate thousands of legal marriages. 61 percent of Americans support marriage equality according to a recent Washington Post-ABC poll.
Here’s the heated rhetoric from the candidates vying to be our next president:
Mike Huckabee: Changing my stance on same-sex marriage “is like asking someone who’s Jewish to start serving bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli, or asking a Muslim to serve up something that is offensive to him, or to have dogs in his backyard.”
Scott Walker: ” I believe marriage is between one man and one woman…I believe it’s reasonable for the people of America to consider a constitutional amendment that would affirm the ability of states to do just that.”
Rick Perry: “Whether or not you feel compelled to follow a particular lifestyle or not, you have the ability to decide not to do that. I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way.”
Jeb Bush: “I believe in traditional marriage.”
Rick Santorum: “When we continue to see a decline in marriage and a redefinition of marriage, you get less marriage,” he said. “You get families that aren’t as strong, and as a result, society generally, the economy suffers.”
Ted Cruz: “Marriage is a question for the states. That is why I have introduced legislation, to protect the authority of state legislatures to define marriage… I will be introducing a constitutional amendment to prevent the federal government or the courts from attacking or striking down state marriage laws. ”
Marco Rubio: “There is a growing intolerance on this issue, intolerance of those who continue to support traditional marriage…Supporting the definition of marriage as one man and one woman, is not anti-gay. It is pro-traditional marriage.”
Rand Paul: “I’m for traditional marriage, I think marriage is between a man and a woman.”
Ben Carson: “They have no right to say to me that I must change the way I think in order to accommodate what they believe, that’s where the injustice comes from, and we have to understand that.”
Published: Apr 28, 2015