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Gay New Hampshire man to Marco Rubio: ‘Why do you want to put me back in the closet…?”

Gay New Hampshire man to Marco Rubio: ‘Why do you want to put me back in the closet…?”

On Monday, Senator Marco Rubio was confronted with some surprise questions from a New Hampshire voter, who didn’t hesitate to grille the politician about his views on marriage equality.

Timothy Kierstead, a New Hampshire voter who’s been married to his husband for several years, asked the presidential candidate, “Why do you want to put me back in the closet?”

“I don’t,” Rubio replied. “You can live any way you want. I just believe marriage is between one man and one woman.”

Kierstead then suggested Rubio was trying “to say we don’t matter.”

“No,” Rubio said again. “I just believe marriage is between one man and one woman. I think that’s what the law should be. And if you disagree you should have the law changed by a legislature.”

An odd statement — which led Kierstead to not-so-gently remind Rubio that the Supreme Court has already legalized marriage nationwide.

Which seemed to end the conversation.

“I respect your view,” Rubio said with finality, and walked out.

Kierstead’s takeaway from the exchange?

“Typical politician. Walk away.”

Speaking later to The New York Times, he explained why he would case his vote for a Democrat: Because Republicans don’t support his right to marry.

“They want to take my rights away as a citizen of the United States. Love is love. People don’t choose who they are going to love.”

Watch the heated exchange below:

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