Barbara Bush Endorses Marriage Equality

WASHINGTON -- One of former President George W. Bush's twin daughters became the latest in a line of younger-generation Republicans to throw her support behind gay marriage in a surprise statement released on Monday night.

In a video cut for New Yorkers for Marriage Equality, a project of the Human Rights Campaign, former first daughter Barbara Bush fully endorses a campaign to promote marriage equality.

"I am Barbara Bush, and I am a New Yorker for marriage equality," she says in the video. "New York is about fairness and equality. And everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love."

WATCH:

During his presidency, Bush pushed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and has repeatedly stated his belief that marriage should be defined as between a man and a woman.

But many in the Bush circle have been breaking rank. Barbara first publicly hinted at her position when she attended a Sept. fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the organization that led the court case to overturn Prop. 8 in California. The co-chair of that event was former Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman, who came out as gay in August and said he would be fighting for marriage equality.

Bush's mother, Laura, has also implied that she supports same-sex marriage, saying in May, "I think that we ought to definitely look at it and debate it. I think there are a lot of people who have trouble coming to terms with that because they see marriage as traditionally between a man and a woman, but I also know that when couples are committed to each other and love each other that they ought to have the same sort of rights that everyone has."

Barbara's statement of support is best viewed, however, through a generational lens. Sen. John McCain's daughter, Meghan, has appeared in a marriage equality ad of her own, in addition to speaking publicly at Log Cabin Republican events and urging the GOP to become more gay friendly.

Many in the party (including former McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt) seem ready to take that step. But not all. The upcoming Conservative Political Action Committee conference has been beset with protests over its decision to include the pro-gay rights conservative group GOProud, with a number of high-profile figures refusing to attend.

UPDATE, 10:01 p.m.: The New York Times' Michael Barbaro reports: "Barbara Bush, who started a nonprofit group focused on global health, rarely speaks out on American political issues, making her foray into the same-sex marriage debate so striking. But for years, those close to her say, she has surrounded herself with gay friends -- at Yale, where she was an undergraduate, and in New York City, where she worked in the design world."

Comments

[Chuck3Martin]

12:44 AM on 02/22/2011

Yet another child of a right-winger who sees the light.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAXf7nAo2Fs

Makes good points about why all this is absolutely ridiculous.

[scottyknows]

02:27 PM on 02/03/2011

Marriage is a legal agreement that is recognized by the government; love is an emotion not monitored by said government in that document. Therefore, however much attraction two (or three or five) people might say they have for one another, it is not part of the issue.

No government should be in the business of forcing a small minority's sex.ual practices on the populace as normal, especially when every vote on the issue shows a huge majority against it. When any people are forced to pretend what they know to be untrue, it diminishes that society.

[Zork4]

02:54 PM on 02/03/2011

Not true that there is huge majority against it. Nationally it's more or less tied, with a constant shift toward approving same-sex marriage over the past several years. It is generational. As the population ages, new voters who have no problem with same-sex marriage are helping create a new majority.

Many sexual practices have been outlawed over the years. In Georgia, oral sex was illegal even between married couples till 2004. Times change. In America we protect minority rights so discussions of what is "normal" are irrelevant.

[Ioan Lightoller]

05:07 PM on 02/03/2011

Haters don't even CARE about the rights of minorities. If it were voted in tomorrow they would be trying to find ways to circumvent "the voters' will". All they care about is that they CAN enhsrine hatred and bigotry in law, so they DO.

[bannorhill]

06:24 PM on 02/04/2011

Voters in 31 out of 31 states disagree with you.

[omgriri]

03:34 PM on 02/03/2011

how about this: marriage is a religious ceremony and has NO place in government in the first place. we have a separation of church and state, under which, frankly, marriage shouldn't even be ALLOWED. two people of whatever gender should be allowed to get a CIVIL UNION, religious nonsense optional. there you go, everyone's treated equally and you bizarro holy rollers get to keep your jesus all to yourselves.

[balloonboyrama]

01:04 AM on 02/04/2011

If you are going to give me a hard time hunny, you should show some courage and respond to my questions.

[Helloise]

09:19 AM on 02/03/2011

No offense to the men among us, but despite our relative lack of power, women have often been at the forefront of cultural and social change, along with and perhaps adjacent to the young. I remember reporting on a toxic waste issue where an expert I spoke to said that when it came to environmental health, it was most often the women in the communities who rang the alarms, if only because they were "closer to the ground" when it came to witnessing and/or suffering the effects, such as miscarriages, birth defects, childhood illnesses.

I believe the way that translates on cultural issues is that women are naturally more attuned to discrimination in their own lives and the lives of their loved ones. That is not to say that there have not been plenty of valiant men fighting to end prejudice and discrimination on all fronts, but that it appears overall, on the most basic level, that women are more receptive to and accepting of the seismic rumblings of social and cultural movements.

Of all of the current wedge issues in this country, parity for our gay friends and neighbors seems the most likely to succeed in the near future, as evidenced by the support of the wives and daughters of the politicians who have overtly opposed it. Good for you, Barbara; I always thought you seemed like a good kid, and now you're an even better adult.

[WheelsOnFire]

12:58 AM on 02/03/2011

What's up with Iowa's legislature?

Its House just passed a resolution that could ban not just gay marriage, but any form of gay union, in that state.

If approved by lawmakers and voters in 2013, the Iowa Marriage Amendment (IMA) would ban gay marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships and any government recognition of gay and lesbian couples in the state.

Looks like Iowa is headed right back to the 18th century.

Meanwhile, Maryland is moving forward. A bill has been introduced there that would legalize gay marriage. It has already picked up a strong Republican supporter -- the former Senate Minority Leader.

And a recent poll found 51% of Marylanders in favor of gay marriage.

[cellardweller]

12:16 PM on 02/03/2011

In many ways, the 18th century is where we need to be again.

If the government "recognize(s) gay an lesbian couples", then it's only one step to recognizing "domestic partnerships", which, in turn, is only one step from civil unions. From there, it's only one final step to gay "marriage".

[WheelsOnFire]

10:13 PM on 02/03/2011

Perhaps some may want to live again in the 18th century, when the average lifespan was about 35 years, slavery was common, and most of this country's citizens were illiterate.

I much prefer to live in more advanced times, with more advanced thinking -- thinking that fulfills the dream of equality for all envisioned by this country's founding fathers.

[bannorhill]

02:01 PM on 02/03/2011

Good for Iowa. Bring sanity back to the real definition of marriage.

PS It just takes us back to the 1990's.

[Zork4]

02:55 PM on 02/03/2011

Why does it matter to you what others do?

[scottyknows]

03:06 PM on 02/03/2011

Well said.

These late-minute bandwagoners to this issue think it's been around forever, but it's only been discussed a few years longer than the interest they now show on this current cause celebre.

[longlivethenewflesh]

07:24 PM on 02/02/2011

Kudos to Ms. Bush.

[MinerSam]

05:07 PM on 02/02/2011

What else is new! Her mother & Grandmother suddenly announced that they believe in a woman's right to choose just prior to elections! Meanwhile the Republican platform -- unanimously -- voted not only against civil marriage but against civil unions.

Or could this just yet another in an extensive "Microtargetting" efforts of deceptions to sweep up various demographic groups to vote against their own interests(?). This time the LGBTs and
the young, Would Need to leave the party of bigotry to gain any credibility.

Reminds me of how when a good person does one thing wrong they are endlessly castigated
and when a bad person does one thing right they are endlessly praised. Big deal.

[KarateKid]

11:59 AM on 02/02/2011

Instead of taking the easy road, she went out into the world and has done some very laudable things. And, when she saw how the other half lives, and suffers, it changed her. I say give her credit instead of making snide remarks about her heritage, to which she had no say. Judge her by what SHE has done. And, it's a lot more than most of us.

[TheClemBot]

06:51 PM on 02/03/2011

Right on!

[femmyror]

11:17 AM on 02/02/2011

Good for her!

[rviohl]

11:03 AM on 02/02/2011

So, perhaps her evil parents raised their kids well, better than the media would have us believe.

Everybody wants change yesterday... there is very little debate or patience anymore. Just arguing and mudslinging.

[Ioan Lightoller]

08:36 PM on 02/02/2011

Get over yourself. I have been waiting over forty years for my civil rights. I am sick to death of the notion that I need to be patient every though I am the one being discriminated again.

[Zork4]

02:58 PM on 02/03/2011

Yeah, hard to be patient as one watches the best years of one's life pass by while being discriminated against.

[bryanzth]

04:06 AM on 02/24/2011

And in addition to being patient about this, we come to the point where we have to deal with ageism, and perhaps in some cases, employmentism in hiring practices.

So, again, it seems the same types of ideas that have been driving anti-civil rights opinion in LGBTIQ issues and ageism issue in the past are still driving them.

I am impatient, too, and getting more impatient as this Great "Recession" finds more ways to discriminate against everybody but the "right" people, if you know what I mean.

BZ.

[neogejo]

09:54 AM on 02/02/2011

Trying to make up for the sins of the father, grandfather, great grandfather.....

Thanks for the support. Someone from that family is making their voice heard in a positive way.

[Cronous]

10:21 AM on 02/03/2011

great grandfather, what the hell did he do?

[bryanzth]

04:08 AM on 02/24/2011

Prescott.

He probably was too busy with some German contracts to talk about this. But behind closed doors he probably supported the Germans putting pink triangles on people, too.

BZ.

[Lpeter]

09:51 AM on 02/02/2011

Wow! Satan's daughter is pretty HOT!! No surprise. Evil can come in the most beautiful disguises.

[Alex Shalan]

09:10 AM on 02/02/2011

Good to hear, just hope it's as sincere as Cindy McCain's stance on DADT.

[Periwinkle]

08:25 AM on 02/02/2011

Good for her (as someone previously posted)! Maybe the acorn has rolled away from the rotting tree.

[Frenbar]

07:53 AM on 02/02/2011

I think this statement would have been more powerful had she been clutching a jar holding a floating fetus.

That being said, she looks better then any Bush has a right to.

[rheuer111]

07:49 AM on 02/02/2011

that's great that she supports marriage equality. i wonder whether she also stands for the rule of law and the prosecution of war crimes?