GOP senator comes out in support of gay marriage

>>> portman became the only sitting republican senator to support gay marriage , he broke new ground for the cause of equal rights . but in the wake of the senator's announcement, we can't help but wonder why it took him so long. senator portman explained that in february of 2011 , his son portman and his wife that he's gay. it allowed me to think of this issue from a new perspective and that's of a dodd who loves his son a lot and wants him to have the same opportunities his brother and sister would have.

>> that's great. first, why did it take two years for senator portman to change his views after this revelation from his son? we do know that last year portman was being vetted as a possible running mate for mitt romney . he said it had no impact in choosing paul ryan over-partman. second, why is it important to have firsthand experience to do the right thing? is it an existential experience necessary to have existential nsent?

>> i think senator portman made some pretty big inroads last week, but i think it's about being decent, that nobody deserved to have their decency diminished or people don't deserve to be disrespected. he stopped short of endorsing his position. here's house speaker john boehner .

>> i believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. it's what i grew up with, it's what i believe. it's what my church teaches me. and i can't imagine that position would ever change.

>> you know the church taught segregation before integration. churches do change.

>> hillary clinton showed her support in this video.

>> like so many others, my personal views have been shaped over time by people i have known and loved, by my experience representing our nation on the world's stage. my devotion to human rights , and the guiding principles of my faith.

>> finally, public support for gay marriage is at an all-time high. 58% support marriage equality . only 36% opposed. let's bring in the national spo spokes person. it's a human rights issue as well. so it's not just personal. it's principle. so the accolades for senatorportman's announcement need to be put that a context, don't they?

>> they do, but senator portman and mrs. clinton are two examples of people who are examples of what we've always nope at glad, which is when people know us, when they know our stories, when they're part of our lives and hear our stories, they understand our issues and they are on our side. so we applaud senator portman for his statement and for supporting his son. his son has the right to love whoever he chooses, and just like his brothers and his sisters. so we welcome that. and as for mrs. clinton, she's always been a great supporter of our community, and we're not shocked by her eloquent statement today.

>> let me push you a little bit here, because some people have personal experiences with gay lesbian, transsexual persons and don't like them. wouldn't you rather have principled -- beyond them, wouldn't you appreciate a principled adherence to ideals and beliefs and concepts that give you purchase on support for equality -- marriage quality as opposed to people simply having personal stories which can't be predicted to necessarily be positive?

>> yes, i would, but i also know that the best way for people to change their minds is a personal experience . that being said, when i hear a statement like john boehner 's, i want to say to him, i have seen how moved he has been many times by the reaching for the american dream . and what i ask him is, does that mean that someone who loves another person of the same sex doesn't deserve to reach for that american dream just because of that fact? do i not get to -- do i not get to reach my own goals and my own aspirations and my own dreams just because i am a gay man? do we limit our american dream just to people who he happens to find are acceptable? so i urge him to go out and reach out to our community and to get to know us and see that we have dreams just like he does, just like his children, just like his family. and we deserve all the rights and privileges that come with the american citizenship .

>> but you see that speaker boehner has already indicated he doesn't imagine changing his views. when do you think most republicans --

>> i have hope for him.

>> you should, but when do you think it will become a human rights issue rather than traditional insight and traditional belief?

>> well, i think we're on the road to that right now. all we have to do is look at the poll that came out today and see that the momentum really is on our side. we only have to look about ten years ago and see that those polls were almost the opposite of what they are today. so the momentum truly is on our side. and that really is because of the fact that this community has been so brave in telling their own stories and their own experiences because we know that's how people change their minds. so i think that people really are seeing it through the lens of human rights . and that happens because they know someone in their family or in their church or in their neighborhood or on their tvs. when they read the newspaper about someone who is lgtb. so i really think that that is happening, and it's happening at warp speed .

>> all right. well, we hope they beam them up, scottie. wilson cruz , activist for glad, thank you. t the shouting match breaks out during cpac.