World

US: Republican congressman announces support of same-sex marriage

Jul 22 2014
Written by Tatiana Herrera

Yesterday, Florida Republican and newly-elected US Representative David Jolly, expressed his support of same-sex marriage.

In a statement made by Jolly he said that as a Christian he believes in traditional marriage, but as a constitutional principle, government should be limited.

He said: “To me, that means that the sanctity of one’s marriage should be defined by their faith and by their church, not by their state.”

Jolly is the eighth Republican member of Congress that has come out in support of same-sex marriage.

This comes on the heels of Monday’s new ruling by Judge Luis M Garcia, who refused to allow same-sex couples to marry in Monroe County. Garcia cited a pending appeal by the state Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Garcia is the same judge who last Thursday overturned a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, legalising it in just one Florida county.

Jolly approved of last week’s ruling that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

Same-sex couples could have started receiving marriage licenses, but will now have to wait due to Bondi’s last-ditch appeal to block Garcia’s original ruling.

While Jolly openly supports same-sex marriage, Florida Governor Rick Scott has repeatedly dodged questions about his views on same-sex marriage.

Scott refused to clarify to reporters whether he supported Bondi’s action or not, claiming simultaneously that he supports ‘traditional marriage’ and doesn’t want marriage discrimination.