Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) might have been able to grasp something as difficult as the MCAT, but he still can't quite understand same-sex marriage.
The Kentucky libertarian spoke with the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer on Wednesday about the issue of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Raw Story notes.
“I believe in traditional marriage,” Paul told Fischer. “I really don’t understand any other kind of marriage. Between a man and a woman is what I believe in. I just don’t think it's good for us to change the definition of that.”
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Paul went on to elaborate on DOMA, saying that the federal government should not get involved in the marriage issue.
"We should try to keep it as a state issue," he said. "My fear is that in federalizing it, we're going to lose the battle for the whole country. And keeping it state-by-state, which is the way marriage has always been adjudicated, that we'll still have areas that will continue to have traditional marriage. I think we're losing in large areas of the country now. If the urban centers are able to dictate for the rest of the country what our definition on marriage is, I'm a little concerned about that."
Despite the fact that he doesn't "understand" same-sex marriage, Paul -- who once said he didn't think President Barack Obama's views on same-sex "could get any gayer" -- wants Republicans to take a step back from the issue in order to foster the party.
“We’re going to have to be a little hands off on some of these issues ... and get people into the party,” he said, referring to hot-button social issues like same-sex marriage and abortion, while speaking at a breakfast for Ohio Republicans on Jan. 26, according to Cincinnati.com.
The United States Supreme Court is expected to address the constitutionality of DOMA in March.
Listen to Rand Paul speaking to Bryan Fischer below. (He mentions same-sex marriage around the 8:30 mark.)
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The Huffington Post | By Cavan Sieczkowski Posted: 01/31/2013 3:45 pm EST