STUNNER: Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) Backs Marriage Equality

From CBS News:

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a co-sponsor of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), now supports same-sex marriage, he announced last night.

In an op-ed this morning for the Columbus Dispatch, Portman explained that “I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn’t deny them the opportunity to get married.”

Portman told The Cincinnati Enquirer his evolution on the subject began in 2011 when his son, Will, then a freshman at Yale University, told his parents he was gay.

“My son came to Jane, my wife, and I, told us that he was gay, and that it was not a choice, and that it’s just part of who he is, and that’s who he’d been that way for as long as he could remember,” Portman told CNN in an interview.

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I’ve long been an admirer of the Senator, and even as early as March 2012, I recommended that Romney choose him as his Vice Presidential running mate.  But this seals the deal — a extraordinarily brave move for a rising star in a party where activists overwhelmingly oppose gay marriage.  I hate to use the cliche, but this really is a game changer.