Florida Senator Bill Nelson Is The Latest Gay Marriage Convert

Florida Senator Bill Nelson became the latest Democratic Senator to publicly reverse his previous opposition to same-sex marriage in a statement to The Tampa Bay Tribune:

It is generally accepted in American law and U.S. society today “… that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. I believe that. The civil rights and responsibilities for one must pertain to all.

Thus, to discriminate against one class and not another is wrong for me.

If we are endowed by our Creator with rights, then why shouldn’t those be attainable by Gays and Lesbians?

Simply put, if The Lord made homosexuals as well as heterosexuals, why should I discriminate against their civil marriage? I shouldn’t, and I won’t.

So I will add my name to the petition of senators asking the Supreme Court to declare the law that prohibits gay marriage unconstitutional.

Among Democrats that leaves Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) as the only Democratic Senators who have not come out in support of same-sex marriage. Given that these are all “red state” Senators the odds of them taking a public stand at the moment is likely low. This is especially true for Mark Pryor who faces the probability of a serious challenge in Arkansas, where the GOP ousted Blanche Lincoln in 2010 by an overwhelming margin.

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. legion says:

    I think it’s pretty clear that sane-sex marriage, if not LGBT rights in general, will be an official plank in the Dem platform by the mid-term elections. How the GOP responds to that, and how well or poorly that response serves them in the mid-terms, will go a long way toward shaping the 2016 battles…

  2. stonetools says:

    The March of Progress

    The Democrats are Homo Sapiens, while the Republicans are about third in from the left:-).

  3. Given that these are all “red state” Senators the odds of them taking a public stand at the moment is likely low.

    #redstateproblems

  4. aFloridian says:

    Bill Nelson is an opportunistic twit who will do whatever is necessary to save his political hide, so I hardly believe this is any great act of conscience.

    And I voted for the man….

  5. jd says:

    @aFloridian: And I voted for the man….

    So did I. He was the least of all weevils.

  6. Neil Hudelson says:

    Joe Donnelly just came out in support of equality.

  7. Lynn says:

    and Heitkamp