The former president, whose family has taken varying positions on gay marriage, took part in ceremony for two friends in Maine

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Former US president George Bush Sr was an official witness at the same-sex wedding of two longtime friends, his spokesman said Wednesday.

Bush and his wife, Barbara Bush, attended the ceremony for Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen as private citizens and friends on Saturday, spokesman Jim McGrath said.

Thorgalsen posted a photo on her Facebook page showing Bush signing the marriage licence as a witness. She captioned the photo: "Getting our marriage license witnessed!"

In the photo, Bush is seated in a wheelchair, a stack of papers on his lap and his left hand poised with a pen. One bright red sock and one bright blue one peek out below the cuffs of his blue slacks.

The 41st president has deep ties to the area and owns a compound in Kennebunkport, a small coastal town. Thorgalsen and Clement own a general store in neighbouring Kennebunk. They were on honeymoon overseas and did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Wednesday.

Gay marriage became legal in Maine in December.

Bush's sons, former president George Bush Jr, opposed same-sex marriage and in 2004 announced his support for a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw it. But his wife, Laura Bush, and their daughter Barbara Bush support it, as does his former vice-president, Dick Cheney, whose daughter Mary Cheney is openly gay.

A spokesman for Bush Jr on Wednesday declined to comment on his current feelings about same-sex marriage or his thoughts about his father's role in a same-sex wedding.

In July, Bush Jr said he would not comment on the issue, saying he "shouldn't be taking a speck out of someone else's eye when I have a log in my own". He later explained that he would not answer the question because he was out of politics.

His brother Jeb Bush, a former governor of Florida and a potential presidential candidate, has said same-sex marriage is best left to the states to decide. In a speech in June he told the Faith & Freedom Coalition the nation should support non-traditional families.