Clint Eastwood to speak at Republican convention – despite being pro-marriage equality
Clint Eastwood is to be guest speaker at the Republican National Convention, despite his pro-marriage equality stance which does not chime with the party’s ideology.
Eastwood was previously a straightforward Republican, but later evolved to take more nuanced views, supporting not only marriage equality but also abortion rights.
He told GQ magazine last year that he had gone from being an Eisenhower Republican to a “social libertarian.”
He said: “Who are these people who are making a big deal about gay marriage?
“I don’t give a damn about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We’re making a big deal out of things we shouldn’t be making a deal out of . . . Just give everybody the chance to have the life they want.
“Let’s spend a little more time leaving everybody alone.”
The Republican Party, however, has affirmed their stance that marriage can only legitimately be between a man and a woman and this week supported a constitutional amendment strengthening that fact.
Back in the 2008 US elections, Eastwood, 82, endorsed the then Republican candidate, Senator John McCain. However, following President Obama’s victory he told the Associated Press: “Obama is my president now and I am going to be wishing him the very best because it is what is best for all of us.”
In a 2010 interview, Eastwood said that although he still stood by President Obama, he didn’t think he was “governing” any longer, adding, “I don’t think he’s surrounded himself with the people he could have surrounded himself with.”
