A Republican lawmaker voted against federal protections for same-sex marriage three days before attending his gay son’s wedding.
Last Tuesday, the House passed the ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ on a 267-157 vote, with 47 Republicans joining every Democrat to support it. Among Republicans who opposed the legislation was Pennsylvania Rep. Glenn Thompson who was days away from attending his gay son’s wedding on Friday.
Gawker first reported the news of the wedding but it was not clear if Thompson would be in attendance.
On Monday Thompson’s son told NBC News that his “father was there” when he “married the love of [his] life.” The lawmaker’s press secretary also confirmed that he attended the wedding and that the Thompsons are “very happy” to welcome their new son-in-law “into their family.”
The Democratic-led House passed the ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ to get ahead of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court that signaled other rights, like same-sex marriage, are on the chopping block after the court overturned a woman’s right to get an abortion.
The bill would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, and it would guarantee recognition of same-sex marriages and interracial marriages under federal law.
But, in a statement last week Thompson argued that the Respect for Marriage Act is “nothing more than an election-year messaging stunt for Democrats in Congress who have failed to address historic inflation and out of control prices at gas pumps and grocery stores.”
