Rob Portman and His Brave, Gay Son | The New Yorker

Contents:

• ROB PORTMAN AND HIS BRAVE, GAY SON
• ROB PORTMAN REVERS GAY MARRIAGE STANCE AFTER SON COM OUT
• REPUBLIN SENATOR WH GAY SON NOW BACKS GAY MARRIAGE
• SEN. PORTMAN'S GAY SON WR LUMN ABOUT G OUT TO HIS DAD
• A TRAGIC STORY OF A SENATOR AND HIS “GAY” SON
• CNN EXCLIVE: ONE NSERVATIVE’S DRAMATIC REVERSAL ON GAY MARRIAGE
• CONSERVATIVE GOP SENATOR LEARNS HIS SON IS GAY, REVERS POSN ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
• ROB PORTMAN'S GAY MARRIAGE CONVERSN EXPLAED BY HIS SON

ROB PORTMAN AND HIS BRAVE, GAY SON

The news that Senator Rob Portman of Oh has bee a supporter of equal marriage rights for gays and lbians bee he himself has a gay son was a surprise.

That I want all of my children to have, cludg our son, who is gay.

ROB PORTMAN REVERS GAY MARRIAGE STANCE AFTER SON COM OUT

” It was tertg that Portman chose to e the same modifier, “personally, ” that Print Obama ed when he first announced his own evolutn to a gay-marriage supporter, to Rob Roberts, on ABC news. One n’t help wonrg if havg a gay son st Portman a spot on the G. But his Op-Ed, Portman gtured toward an emergg nservative posn on same-sex marriage—“One way to look at is that gay upl’ sire to marry don’t amount to a threat but rather a tribute to marriage”—and talked about the Biblil value of real example of urage this story, however, om Portman’s son Will, who is twenty-one years old.

(I remember how felt to e out as the gay son of a proment anti-gay psychiatrist. ) Then image, after sharg this timate part of yourself wh your parents, watchg your father be publicly vetted for Vice-Print on the ticket of someone whose anti-gay-rights views were beg wily reported on. In his Op-Ed, Portman wrote about learng that Will was gay:He said he’d known for some time, and that his sexual orientatn wasn’t somethg he chose; was simply a part of who he was.

REPUBLIN SENATOR WH GAY SON NOW BACKS GAY MARRIAGE

We were surprised to learn he was gay, but knew he was still the same person he’d always been. The only difference was that now we had a more plete picture of the son we Portman proved, once aga, that the most powerful polil act any gay person n take is g out.

SEN. PORTMAN'S GAY SON WR LUMN ABOUT G OUT TO HIS DAD

Public-opn polls show, and have for s, that people who know a gay person are far ls likely to support discrimatn.

”) To have a close relative who is gay or lbian n only magnify the effect seen pollg. The most proment example of this is Cheney, who has been a longtime supporter of gay marriage, as is the former Hoe Majory Lear Dick Gephardt, who also has a lbian took Senator Portman two years om his son’s revelatn to e to a pot where he was willg to discs fortably, although Dana Bash, who terviewed him for CNN, says he was fact que awkward and nervo.

”Richard Soris is an attorney, polil strategist, wrer, and longtime gay-rights advote.

A TRAGIC STORY OF A SENATOR AND HIS “GAY” SON

Rob Portman's views on gay marriage evolved.

In an edorial for the Yale stunt newspaper, Will Portman says he is "proud" of his dad for his evolutn on gay marriage.

Will Portman told his fay he was gay two years ago, leadg Rob Portman, the proment Republin senator om Oh, to have a change of heart on the issue of gay marriage. As Mark reported, Portman, who was nsired to be Mt Romney's nng mate, now says he supports gay marriage.

CNN EXCLIVE: ONE NSERVATIVE’S DRAMATIC REVERSAL ON GAY MARRIAGE

"They were surprised to learn I was gay, and full of qutns, but absolutely rock-solid supportive.

" As for why took his father two years to change his stance on gay marriage, Will wr that was bee he had to take his time thkg about the issue more eply and Will was also reluctant to make his personal life public.

Rob Portman (R-Oh) has reversed his stance on same-sex marriage two years after learng that his son is gay, several Oh news outlets, cludg the Columb Dispatch and the Cleveland Pla Dealer, reported Friday.

CONSERVATIVE GOP SENATOR LEARNS HIS SON IS GAY, REVERS POSN ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

The senator also nsulted clergy on the matter, as well as iends such as former Vice Print Dick Cheney, whose dghter Mary is openly gay. And 1999, Portman voted for a measure prohibg same-sex upl Washgton state om adoptg 2011, Portman's "openly hostile" rerd on gay rights led to hundreds of stunts at the Universy of Michigan objectg to the senator speakg at the school's graduatn ceremony. -- Portman has penned an lumn for the Columb Dispatch explag his reversal:"I have e to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime mment to love and re for each other good tim and bad, the ernment shouldn’t ny them the opportuny to get married, " he the rt You GoGay Marriage In The Uned StatPopular the CommunyYou May Like.

WASHINGTON/CLEVELAND (Rters) - Senator Rob Portman beme the most proment Republin lawmaker to back gay rights when he reversed his opposn to same-sex marriage on Friday, two years after his son told him he was Rob Portman (R-OH) speaks to the crowd at Oh Republin Sen. REUTERS/Aaron JosefczykIn a newspaper opn piece on Friday, shortly before the Supreme Court is to hear arguments two key s on the issue, the Oh senator said he now supports gay marriage. ”Portman’s 21-year-old son, Will, told the senator and his wife Febary 2011 that he was gay and had been “sce he uld remember.

ROB PORTMAN'S GAY MARRIAGE CONVERSN EXPLAED BY HIS SON

”It was the latt show of public support for gay rights. Print Barack Obama announced last year that he approved of gay marriage, and his gural speech January, he equated gay rights wh civil Supreme Court hears oral arguments later this month two s related to gay marriage.

In a related se, the urt will also hear arguments that qutn a California law, known as Proposn 8, banng gay marriage. Was among the ont-nners to be Mt Romney’s vice printial pick durg the 2012 electn, but budget hawk Reprentative Pl Ryan of Wisns eventually got the SPLITThe Republin Party has bee creasgly spl on the gay marriage issue, wh some argug that socially nservative posns such as opposn to same-sex marriage are ntributg to the party’s electn early Republin favore for the 2016 printial race, Senator Mar Rub of Florida, staged a fense of tradnal marriage a high-profile speech to a nservative nference on Thursday. And what’s beg clear is if you know somebody who happens to be gay, you feel much differently about this issue.