Former Republican Governor Urges Party To Support Gay Marriage

The former Republican Governor of Utah has urged his party to give its backing to same-sex marriage.

Jon Huntsman was governor of the state of Utah between 2005 and 2009 and was the first governor of the state to support civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. Now Huntsman has come out in support of gay marriage even though he previously stated his opposition to same-sex marriage believing civil unions were the way forward.

In a written piece published by American Conservative magazine the Republican politician wrote “I’ve been married for 29 years. My marriage has been the greatest joy of my life. There is nothing conservative about denying other Americans the ability to forge that same relationship with the person they love” Huntsman added “The party of Lincoln…should stand with our best tradition of equality and support full civil marriage for all Americans.”

The Republican also urged his party to “start to lead again” and urged states held by them to join the handful of states in American which have legalised gay marriage already. States that already allow gay and lesbian couples to marry include New York, Iowa, Maryland, Washington and New Hampshire.

Prior to serving as Governor of Utah Mr. Huntsman was the American Ambassador to Singapore from 1992 and 1993 and became Ambassador  to China from 2009 to 2011 following his term in office in Utah. The politician was a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination after being touted as a possible candidate in previous elections. Following the New Hampshire primary, in which he came third, he withdrew from the campaign and formally gave his backing to Mitt Romney.