North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly were the latest Democrats to come out in support of gay marriage, leaving all but four elephants donkeys in the room: Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, and South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson.
In a statement Friday, Heitkamp wrote “the federal government should no longer discriminate against people who want to make lifelong, loving commitments to each other or interfere in personal, private, and intimate relationships.”
Meanwhile, Donnelly took to Facebook Friday morning where he invoked his pro-gay record and opposed “amending either Indiana’s or our nation’s constitution to enshrine in those documents an ‘us’ and a ‘them,’ instead of a ‘we.’”
Pryor has gone on the record as opposing gay marriage, though he says he is undecided on “whether federal benefits should be available to gay couples.” Landrieu, on the other hand, told CNN that though she personally supports gay marriage, “the people of Louisiana have made clear that marriage in our state is restricted to one man and one woman.”
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Despite these holdouts, the Senate still has a majority of 53 gay marriage supporters.
Photo: MSNBC
Cam
“” Landrieu, on the other hand, told CNN that though she personally supports gay marriage, “the people of Louisiana have made clear that marriage in our state is restricted to one man and one woman.”
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In the year 2000 Alabama held a vote to remove the last remaining pro segregation law on their books. It was the state law that banned interracial marriage. Approximately 40% of the state voted to keep it.
Is Senator Landrieu saying that if over 50% of the state voted to keep it that the Alabama Senators should have fought for interracial marriage to be banned again?
Please clarify Senator.
tdx3fan
I would much rather have these people get reelected than demand that they support gay marriage. They are in states where they have no chance in hell of getting reelected if they publicly support marriage equality.
It is much better to have someone that will do nothing to stop equality in office than to have someone that will openly denounce it and work against it.
bywaterdog
Miss Mary has a hard row to ho in Louisiana.Election year in a dumb ass red state is very hard on a Democratic senator.If it takes this for Miss Mary to get reelected,well that’s the price to be paid to save us from totally being represented by Republican Bible thumping idjits like Tony Perkins.Yes “that” Tony Perkins will be in the race against our Miss Mary.
BJ McFrisky
@bywaterdog: The guy who played Norman Bates is running for office?
bywaterdog
BJ,
No, this Tony Perkins—-Anthony Richard “Tony” Perkins (born March 20, 1963) is president of the Family Research Council, a Christian right think tank, public policy and lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C. Perkins previously served two terms as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, and has been a police officer and television reporter as well.
Norman Bates would be a vast improvement over this character.
MuscleModelBlog.com
@tdx3fan:
Exactly. Although full, open support would be nice, she can’t do it and win elections…not in her state.
kayakriver
I seriously had a laugh here, soon it will be frowned upon to be anti-gay in the US. Those against it will be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
DarkZephyr
@bywaterdog: Be aware that you probably just made BJ love Tony Perkins even more. He claims to be a gay man but is always blasting gay rights as horrible and always attacking gay people in these articles as horrible. I happen to think he is a big fat fake.