Bipartisan Statements on GOP Senator Mark Kirk’s Support for the Freedom to Marry
HRC President Chad Griffin, Freedom to Marry Founder Evan Wolfson, and former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman Laud Sen. Kirk
For Immediate Release
April 2, 2013
Contact: Respect For Marriage Coalition Office / 202-567-5720
[email protected]
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) today became the 50th member of the Senate to endorse the freedom to marry, joining a number of bipartisan colleagues who have recently announced their support for equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian Americans.
In explaining his views, Senator Kirk poignantly said:
“When I climbed the Capitol steps in January, I promised myself that I would return to the Senate with an open mind and greater respect for others. Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. Our time on this earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back — government has no place in the middle.” [Washington Post, 4/2/13]
Senator Kirk’s endorsement reflects the growing bipartisan majority of Americans who support the freedom to marry across all demographic groups. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll showed that 58 percent of all Americans support the freedom to marry, including 81 percent of all voters under 30. The same poll also found that 52 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independent voters between the ages of 18 and 49 support marriage rights for same-sex couples. And, according to polling by Alex Lundry, the Director of Data Science for the Romney campaign, support is growing fastest among younger voters, with 64 percent of white Evangelical Millennials now supporting the freedom to marry.
Former RNC Chair and Campaign Manager to President George W. Bush Ken Mehlman said, “Senator Kirk’s announcement advances freedom, protects religious liberty and promotes strong families and communities across Illinois and across America. Thank you, Senator Kirk, for standing up for freedom and for what matters most in life: family, commitment, love.”
“Senator Kirk and Senator Carper have shown tremendous leadership in announcing their support for marriage equality,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “It is a sign of our progress that so many of their colleagues are showing the same political will. Democrat or Republican, there can simply be no excuse for standing on the wrong side of history when it comes to this basic question of justice.”
“With Senator Kirk's support, the U.S. Senate is now ready to move to the right side of history in support of same-sex couples' freedom to marry,” said Evan Wolfson, founder and President, Freedom to Marry. “Just as we have seen a majority of Americans embrace the freedom to marry, so the Senate is now on the verge of a majority for marriage. As members of Congress are talking with their family, friends, colleagues, and constituents, they come to understand why marriage matters to gay couples as to non-gay, and speak up in support of fairness and freedom. Senator Kirk's heartfelt words about values of treating others as we'd all want to be treated in our precious time on this planet powerfully make the case for the freedom to marry -- and the need for decision-makers to end marriage discrimination in the United States."
A number of other U.S. Senators have recently endorsed marriage equality, including Senators Rob Portman (OH), Mark Begich (AK), Kay Hagan (NC), Claire McCaskill (MO), Jon Tester (MT), Mark Warner (VA), Tom Carper (DE), Jay Rockefeller (WV) and Bob Casey (PA). In addition, 214 bipartisan Members of Congress and more than 300 businesses have signed amicus briefs urging the U.S. Supreme Court to end discriminatory bans on same-sex marriage and to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
# # #
The Respect for Marriage Coalition is a partnership of more than 100 civil rights, faith, health, labor, business, legal, LGBT, student, and women's organizations working together to end the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and grow support for the freedom to marry. The Coalition is co-chaired by Freedom to Marry and the Human Rights Campaign.