Senator Jon Tester Endorses Gay Marriage

Senator Jon Tester has joined the growing number of senators speaking out in support of gay marriage.

The Montana Democrat previously had not been vocal on the issue of same-sex marriage, but in the midst of Supreme Court deliberations on California’s gay marriage ban, decided to make his feelings known.

Jon Tester wrote on his Facebook page:

“Montanans believe in the right to make a good life for their families. How they define a family should be their business and their business alone. I’m proud to support marriage equality because no one should be able to tell a Montanan or any American who they can love and who they can marry. – JT”

Tester then added the red equality symbol that has taken over Facebook to symbolize support of gay marriage.

Though a Democrat, Jon Tester’s endorsement of same-sex marriage could carry weight. He previously supported the right of states to make their own same-sex marriage laws, and on Tuesday supported gay marriage publicly for the first time.

Montana has its own gay marriage ban, passed in 2004 in the form of a constitutional amendment.

Jon Tester joins other politicians who have decided to speak out in support of gay marriage. Last week Ohio Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, said he could no longer deny same-sex couples the right to marry.

Portman told CNN:

“I’m announcing today a change of heart on an issue that a lot of people feel strongly about that has to do with gay couples’ opportunity to marry … I’ve come to the conclusion that for me, personally, I think this is something that we should allow people to do, to get married, and to have the joy and stability of marriage that I’ve had for over 26 years. That I want all of my children to have, including our son, who is gay.”

GOP strategist Karl Rove even said tat the Republican Party could field a candidate in 2016 who supports gay marriage.