Only Dem Candidate for Govovernor in Ohio for Gay Marriage

The Democratic candidate for governor, Ed Fitzgerald, has come out in favor of gay marriage. The Cuyahoga County Executive told a gay magazine in Columbus that he would back a constitutional amendment in Ohio to allow it.

In 2004, Karl Rove helped spearhead anti gay-marriage amendments  in Ohio and nine other states.  President Bush’s campaign manager  that year said the idea was to turn out conservative voters, and it  worked.  Now only nine years later, some politicians feel safe enough  to support gay marriage. Ed Fitzgerald told Outlook Columbus: “I believe in full equality for all  Ohioans, and that includes the LGBT community, and that includes  issues not just related to marriage, but also employment and housing.” His campaign issued a press release quoting his comments in the  magazine. In March, GOP Sen. Rob Portman changed his views and announced  he is in favor of gay marriage because his son is gay.  That led to an  immediate backlash from conservative Republicans.  It also led to  ridicule by others who coined the verb “Portmanize” to mean adopting  a view only because it benefits someone close to you. But Portman’s  stance could also make him more popular as a presidential candidate  in 2016. But a small indication of how Ohioans feel about the subject could be  coming sooner. Fitzgerald’s decision draws a distinction between him  and Gov. Kasich. The governor said in March he was against gay  marriage but would support civil unions. His aide later told reporters  that the governor made a mistake and did not support civil unions.   Polls generally find younger Americans are much more amenable to  gay marriage than older citizens. This was posted at wksu.org