GOP’s Dent shifting on gay marriage

Republican Rep. Charlie Dent (Pa.) said he is re-evaluating his views on gay marriage after Pennsylvania became the 19th state to legalize it. 

The centrist Republican said he is not wholly supporting gay marriage quite yet but said he would have more to say on the subject “in the near future,” according to The Washington Post. 

{mosads}”Now that the judge ruled, it caused me to reconsider my views on the matter,” he said. “In 1996, when I voted for the Pennsylvania Defense of Marriage of Act, it felt appropriate at the time … but clearly times have changed, attitudes and perspectives have evolved, and I understand that.”

After a federal judge in the state ruled earlier this week that the 1996 law was unconstitutional, Dent released a statement congratulating gay couples. Polls show a majority of people in the state support gay marriage. 

“U.S. District Judge John E. Jones’s ruling on this issue appears to be the final legal say on this matter,” he said. “To all the individuals who will now be able to marry as a result of today’s ruling – Congratulations!”

Dent would become one of only a handful of Republican lawmakers who have come out in support of gay marriage. A flurry of lawmakers came out in support of gay marriage last year as the Supreme Court struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, including three GOP senators.