Democrat Elizabeth Warren says she is "proud to stand" with President Obama on marriage equality.
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., at Bunker Hill Community College in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Wednesday May 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)After President Barack Obama came out in support of gay marriage, Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, a Republican, said Wednesday that states should be allowed to decide whether to allow gay marriage.
“Here in Massachusetts, gay marriage has been settled law for nearly a decade, and Senator Brown continues to believe that states should be able to decide this issue,” said spokeswoman Marcie Kinzel. “Regardless of how states choose to define marriage, Senator Brown believes all people should be treated with dignity and respect. Right now, Americans of all backgrounds desperately need jobs, and that is what Senator Brown is focused on."
Brown’s opponent, Democrat Elizabeth Warren sent out a Tweet that said, “Proud to stand with our President in support of marriage equality. Thank you.”
Brown’s openness to gay marriage reflects the fine line that Republicans in Massachusetts must walk. While Republicans nationally tend to oppose same sex marriage, Massachusetts has had same sex marriage since 2004, the result of a ruling by the state Supreme Judicial Court. Polls show that a majority of Massachusetts residents support gay marriage. Brown previously broke with the Republican Party when he supported repealing the ban on openly gay members of the military.
The Massachusetts Republican Party did not immediately issue a response to Obama’s statement.
Richard Tisei, a Republican congressional candidate and former Massachusetts State Senate minority leader, who is gay, said, “I think (Obama) has gone through the same process a lot of people here in Massachusetts have gone through over the past five or six years, that is they gradually and individually come to the conclusion that everybody should be treated equally and fairly under the law.”