Third GOP Senator Backs Same-Sex Marriage
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John Moore/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska came out Wednesday in support of gay marriage, marking the third Republican Senator to change course and back same-sex marriage this year.
In an op-ed that will be posted on the senator’s website, she notes that her change in opinion is “consistent” with what she hears from her constituents in Alaska, especially the younger generation.
“I support marriage equality and support the government getting out of the way to let that happen,” Murkowski writes. “The Supreme Court is set to make a pair of decisions on the topic of marriage equality shortly, and the national conversation on this issue is picking back up.”
In 1998 the senator supported a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between a man and a woman. Since then, she says, her thinking has “evolved as America has witnessed a clear cultural shift.”
“Fifteen years after that vote, I find that when one looks closer at the issue, you quickly realize that same sex unions or civil marriages are consistent with the independent mindset of our state — and they deserve a hands-off approach from our federal policies,” Murkowski continues.
The senator had hinted earlier this year that she had been evolving on the issue. She did not come out fully then to endorse same-sex marriage, as she said she was still reviewing her stance on the issue.
Murkowski joins fellow Republicans, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio., and Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who both endorsed gay marriage earlier this year.
There are only three Democrats left in the Senate who continue to oppose marriage equality in some way: Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.
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