Perry Drops the Ball and Signs Anti-Gay-Marriage Pledge

By Danny Yadron http://blogs.wsj.com

As gay marriage was about to become legal in New York last month, Texas Gov. Rick Perrychanneled his inner libertarian and offered this comment: “You know what? That’s New York, and that’s their business, and that’s fine with me,” Mr. Perry said. “If you believe in the 10th Amendment, stay out of their business if you live in some other state or particularly if you’re the federal government.”

Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, greets supporters at Tommy’s Ham House Aug. 20, 2011, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/ Richard Shiro)

The remarks came at a meeting of GOP donors and governors in Aspen, Colo., on July 23, a day before the first same-sex marriages were performed in New York.  A week later, as it became increasingly clear Mr. Perry would run for president, he told the Associated Press he would support a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

“Yes, sir, I would. I am for the federal marriage amendment,” he told the AP. “And that’s about as sharp a point as I could put on it.”

On Friday, Mr. Perry, who has long opposed gay marriage, completed the 180-degree turn: He signed the National Organization of Marriage’s anti-gay-marriage pledge.

Candidates who sign the document promise to support a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court, appoint federal judges who don’t see a legal argument for gay marriage and establish a “presidential commission on religious liberty” to protect gay marriage opponents.

The pledge also calls for a referendum on gay marriage in the District of Columbia, a place Mr. Perry has repeatedly said he wants to make as “inconsequential” as possible for average Americans.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R., Minn.) and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) also signed the pledge.