Rubio: ‘Ridiculous and absurd’ to think there’s a right to gay marriage
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said it’s “ridiculous and absurd” to believe there’s a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, weighing in on the issue ahead of a landmark Supreme Court case.
“It doesn’t exist. There is no federal constitutional right to same sex-marriage. There isn’t such a right,” the 2016 hopeful said during an interview this weekend with Christian Broadcasting Network’s The Brody File. “You would have to really have a ridiculous and absurd reading of the U.S. Constitution to reach the conclusion that people have a right to marry someone of the same sex.”
Rubio’s remarks were captured in a blog post Monday by the progressive group’s People For the American Way’s Right Wing Watch project.
Rubio added that same-sex advocates refuse to take up same-sex marriage at state legislatures because “they can’t win that debate.”
“The advocates of same-sex marriage refuse to go to the legislatures because they can’t win that debate; they don’t want to have a debate in society,” the Florida Republican said. “They want courts to impose it on people, and they are not even satisfied with that. They have now gone further. They want to stigmatize, they want to ostracize anyone who disagrees with them as haters.”
The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments this week in a gay marriage case that could set the stage for same-sex couples to be able to wed in all 50 states.
Rubio caught media attention earlier this month for saying that, while he opposed same-sex marriage, he would attend a same-sex wedding.
“Ultimately, if someone that you care for and is part of your family has decided to move in one direction or another, or feels that way because of who they love, you respect that because you love them,” he said at the time.
Rubio added during his interview with CBN that his stance against same-sex marriage “is not a policy against anyone.”
“It’s very simple. This is not a policy against anyone,” he said. “I believe, as do a significant percentage of Americans, that the institution of marriage, an institution that existed before government, that has existed before laws, that institution should remain in our laws recognized as the union of one man and one woman.”
A Quinnipiac University Poll released Monday found that, while 58 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage, 59 percent of Republicans are opposed to it.
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