Sen. Marco Rubio, who officially entered the 2016 presidential race Monday, told journalist Jorge Ramos that he would attend a gay marriage ceremony for a close friend or relative.
The Florida Republican said “if someone that you care for and is part of your family has decided to move in one direction,” the proper thing to do is to respect that person’s decision, Politico reported.
“If there’s somebody that I love that’s in my life, I don’t necessarily have to agree with their decisions or the decisions they’ve made to continue to love them and participate in important events,” Mr. Rubio told Mr. Ramos during a Fusion TV interview Wednesday. “If it’s somebody in my life that I care for, of course I would. I’m not going to hurt them simply because I disagree with a choice they’ve made or because I disagree with a decision they’ve made, or whatever it may be.”
Mr. Rubio, a Catholic, likened same-sex weddings to remarriage after divorce, a similarly sensitive topic in the Catholic faith.
“If someone gets divorced, I’m not going to stop loving them or having them a part of our lives,” he said.
Mr. Rubio told CNN’s Jake Tapper earlier this week that he opposes same-sex marriage.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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