Isn’t Rand Paul supposed to be a Libertarian? And aren’t Libertarians supposed to believe in the primacy of individual judgment and freedom of choice in all issues? Then why did the Kentucky Senator say that same-sex marriage “offends” him? Oh, I know: Because he’s trying to curry favor with the right wing of the Republican Party as he begins his quest for the White House.

Speaking to Bret Baier of Fox News, Paul toed the GOP company line on the issue of gay marriage:

“I’m for traditional marriage. I think marriage is between a man and a woman. Ultimately, we could have fixed this a long time ago if we just allowed contracts between adults. We didn’t have to call it marriage, which offends myself and a lot of people.”

I guess Senator Paul didn’t stop to think of how offensive his comments would be to the millions of same-sex couples who are in committed, loving relationships across America and only seek to have the same rights as everyone else. After all, he has his eyes on the 2016 GOP nomination and knows that to support such a progressive idea would doom his chances. Best to abandon your Libertarian principles and join the others in your party who want to deny people a basic human right.

Ian Sams, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, said Paul’s comments prove the Senator is just another GOP extremist:

“Saying marriage equality ‘offends’ him gives us yet another glimpse of Paul’s true colors — a restrictive, retro social agenda that sets back LGBT rights and questions longstanding gains in civil rights.”

Paul also said he thinks civil unions are the way the same-sex marriage issue will finally be resolved, which completely ignores the fact the that U.S. Supreme Court will rule on the matter later this year:

“But I think competing contracts that would give them equivalency before the law would have solved a lot of these problems and it may be where we’re still headed.”

I can’t speak for you, but personally I find Rand Paul’s narrow-minded view of this issue and his complete lack of knowledge on what is transpiring in the legal world to be highly offensive. But I’m not running for office, so I don’t have to bend over backwards to please the bigots in my political party.

This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org.