Kirk becomes second GOP senator to back gay marriage

Catalina Camia, USA TODAY | USATODAY

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois announced his support Tuesday for same-sex marriage, becoming the second Republican to endorse marriage equality.

Kirk, who recently returned to Congress after suffering a stroke, joins Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio as the only sitting Republican senators to support marriage for same-sex couples.

"Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage," Kirk said in a statement. "Our time on this earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back — government has no place in the middle."

The senator's announcement comes a week after the U.S. Supreme Court heard historic arguments challenging same-sex marriage and as public opinion polls show more acceptance. The change in attitudes has also been occurring in the U.S. Senate, starting first with Portman, then more than a half-dozen Democrats who have publicly declared their support in recent weeks.

Kirk is the 50th U.S. senator to back gay marriage, coming shortly after Tom Carper, D-Del., who also announced his support Tuesday. Carper's statement that his views have "changed and evolved" along with public opinion leaves only seven Senate Democrats who are opposed.

Nearly six in 10 Americans said 10 years ago they were opposed to same-sex marriage, compared with about one-third who said they supported it, according to the Pew Research Center. That has changed to 49% who support gay marriage and 44% who oppose, Pew says.

Pew found that people who previously opposed gay marriage but now support it have changed their attitudes in part because they know someone who is gay. That personal connection is what sparked Portman's declaration: His son, Will, came out in 2011, and the Ohio senator said he had a "change of heart from the position of a father."

Though many Republicans still oppose gay marriage, the shift in attitudes by some has been noteworthy. One example: Ted Olson, a former solicitor general in the George W. Bush administration, was one of the attorneys who argued before the Supreme Court against California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said Sunday it is "inevitable" that a Republican presidential candidate will one day support gay marriage. Flake says he believes marriage is between a man and a woman.

Kirk, who is up for re-election in 2016, has talked openly about how he has changed emotionally and physically since suffering a debilitating stroke in early 2012. The senator learned how to walk again and climbed up 45 steps at the U.S. Capitol in January as he returned to work.

"When I climbed the Capitol steps in January, I promised myself that I would return to the Senate with an open mind and greater respect for others," Kirk said in the gay marriage statement posted on his website.