Love and support are all that a father can give his children.
His unyielding devotion and absolute affection are inherent within the connection that is paternity, and yet, the limits of their universality can be tested.
For Ohio Senator Rob Portman, two years ago marked one such test.
After he spent 20 years serving as an outspoken Republican United States congressional member and a strong voice on conservative platform issues, including everything from budgetary and economic concerns to the divisive gay marriage and abortion debates, one instant forced Portman to qualify the importance of faith, career, politics, love and family.
Portman’s son is gay.
That’s why when, two years ago, his son came out to his parents, the news galvanized a series of introspective reflections in Portman that all culminated in the events of last Friday, where the junior Senator said, “I’m announcing today a change of heart on an issue that a lot of people feel strongly about that has to do with gay couples’ opportunity to marry.”
Ultimately, Portman made the decision based not solely on the morality of the subject, but also on the basis of equality and human rights.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that for me, personally, I think this is something that we should allow people to do, to get married, and to have the joy and stability of marriage that I’ve had for over 26 years. That I want all of my children to have, including our son, who is gay,” Portman continued.
Sounds to me like the quintessential story of a proud father protecting and supporting his proud son.
But to others, this is a story of what drives intolerance and bigotry: personal circumstance.
Portman has since been attacked for making the switch over from a hard-line conservative stance on the topic, but surprisingly, the majority of attacks have not come from within his own party. Rather, many liberal bloggers and commenters have posted about the bias saying that he displayed by only realizing the fault of his ways when Portman himself was faced with the issue.
When it had no personal effect on him, Portman was fine limiting the rights of other Americans. But when it came down to it, a father’s love and devotion outweighed that of his party affiliation.
And maybe this does deserve some criticism. Maybe the fact that the LGBTQ+ community is so disrespected by our nation’s governance should be duly noted by this senator’s transition. I mean, suddenly, after a lifetime of seeing a large sector of Americans as undeserving of these rights to marriage – and seeing the issue as one of a religious association – Portman can now stand up for this population because marriage is a right for all to enjoy.
The fact that Portman was unable to separate his own religious preconceptions from the rights of the general public is disheartening and common – and that’s the scariest thing of all.
Don’t get me wrong, I support Portman completely, and I think that his realization is a beneficial one for not only him personally, but for the United States as a whole. He now joins the ranks of a select group of Republicans openly supporting gay marriage, and he now stands as a role model to spark future ideologues to make such a transition. I hope others follow suit.
However, I have to question the basis of his metamorphosis. The fact is, in a time when we are seeing an increasing amount of states legalizing gay marriage and when the President of the United States has voiced his opinion against bans placed on these rights, acceptance is coming.
Portman is a prime example of this.
Still, I can’t help but notice that some people are stuck behind. Some are lagging. Some of us are still discriminating. And, unfortunately, not everyone is going to have a personal encounter with this topic – not everyone will have a change of heart.
But still, all I can hope is that people see the love and support of this father and begin to fall in line accordingly.
Maxton Thoman is a freshman majoring in biology. His column runs weekly on Mondays. Follow Maxton on Twitter @ThemanThoman.
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