GOP Congressman Comes Out In Favor Of Marriage Equality

FILE - This Oct. 4, 2011 file photo, Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., left, accompanied by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., speak to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Five eastern Pennsylvania members of Congre... FILE - This Oct. 4, 2011 file photo, Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., left, accompanied by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., speak to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Five eastern Pennsylvania members of Congress who broke from Republican Party leadership in hopes of ending the federal government shutdown are also representing districts that were just changed to help them get re-elected. The five, Dent, Lou Barletta, Jim Gerlach, Mike Fitzpatrick and Patrick Meehan, all represent districts whose boundaries were redrawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2011 to capture more registered Republican voters and offset the trend of eastern Pennsylvania growing more liberal. However, even with more Republican voters in their districts now, it would seem that the five would rather risk a Republican primary challenge for actions that are more likely to benefit them against a Democratic Party challenger next year. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
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Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) on Wednesday announced his support for same-sex marriage.

“Life is too short to have the force of government stand in the way of two adults whose pursuit of happiness includes marriage,” he said in a statement to the Washington Post.

After a federal court struck down Pennsylvania’s ban on gay marriage last week, Dent congratulated same-sex couples but stopped short of supporting gay marriage.

“I will have more to say about marriage equality in the near future,” he told the Post last week. “Now that the judge ruled, it caused me to reconsider my views on the matter.”

In his Wednesday statement Dent quoted the Pennsylvania ruling, “in future generations the label same-sex marriage will be abandoned, to be replaced simply by marriage,” and said that through “conversations with my family, I have come to realize that they already see the world through that lens.”

He added that support for same-sex marriage fits with the GOP push for limited government.

“As a Republican, I value equality, personal freedom and a more limited role for government in our lives,” he said in his statement. “I believe this philosophy should apply to the issue of marriage as well.”

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  1. Sounds like someone’s facing a tough battle for re-election.

  2. He added that support for same-sex marriage fits with the GOP push for limited government.

    No fucking shit!?!???

    DERP.

  3. This was the expected path that conservatives would switch to as the dominoes continued to fall. Expect a LOT more of this after November.

  4. Profile in Courage. Next he’ll come out in support of evolution.

  5. Mind boggling, isn’t it? How quickly a shift in public opinion changes a politician’s mind.

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