Rep. Matt Salmon, a Mormon, was elected in 2012. Pol with gay son: No gay marriage

Arizona GOP Rep. Matt Salmon reaffirmed his opposition to gay marriage this weekend — even though he has a gay son.

“I don’t support the gay marriage,” Salmon told KTVK, an independent station in Phoenix. “My son is by far one of the most important people in my life. I love him more than I can say.”


Salmon’s reaction creates a sharp contrast to that of Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who announced his support of same-sex marriage last month. Two years earlier, Portman’s son Will had come out to his parents.

“I’m just not there as far as believing in my heart that we should change 2,000 years of social policy in favor of a redefinition of the family,” Salmon said. “I’m not there.”

Salmon said he doesn’t believe his son chose to be gay.

“It doesn’t mean I don’t have respect, it doesn’t mean I don’t sympathize with some of the issues, it just means I haven’t evolved to that station, Rob Portman apparently has,” he added later. “I haven’t.”

Salmon, a Mormon, was elected in 2012. He served a previous stint in the house from 1995 to 2001.

In 2010, the Phoenix New Times reported Salmon’s son, also named Matt, was in a relationship with Kent Flake, a second cousin of Sen. Jeff Flake. The paper said the younger Salmon hoped to run for office.

Arizona, which has a constitutional ban on gay marriage, had four LGBT candidates run for congressional seats in 2012. One of those candidates, Democrat Krysten Sinema, became the first openly bisexual member of Congress.