Just a few days, after voting against a House bill to secure same-sex marriage, Rep. Glenn Thompson watched his son get married to another man.
A spokesperson for the 62-year-old Pennsylvania congressman confirmed that Thompson and his wife were elated to attend their son’s nuptials last week.
“Congressman and Mrs. Thompson were thrilled to attend and celebrate their son’s marriage on Friday night as he began this new chapter in his life,” the rep said in a statement. “The Thompsons are very happy to welcome their new son-in-law into their family.”
Thompson’s son, who wishes to remain unknown, confirmed that his father and mother were in attendance at his wedding.
NBC News was the first to report on the congressman attending the wedding. An article was published a day before the wedding took place and at the time it was still unclear whether the Republican lawmaker would even attend.
On July 19, three days before the wedding, Thompson was on of 157 Republicans to oppose the legislation known as the Respect for Marriage Act.
“This bill was nothing more than an election-year messaging stunt for Democrats in Congress who have failed to address historic inflation and out of control prices at gas pumps and grocery stores,” the spokesperson for Thompson said in regards to the politician’s vote.
The bill was first introduced in 2009 and, though it passed the House and was moved to the Senate floor in 2011, the Senate vote never occurred. After Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide on June 26, 2015, there seemed to be no reason to continue pushing for it, until the overturning of Roe v. Wade earlier this summer.
The bill was then reintroduced by lawmakers on July 18 with a small revision to not only codify the right to marriage for people regardless of sex, but also regardless of race, ethnicity or national origin, reaffirming the 1967 Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage.
The following day, the House passed RFMA in a 267-157 vote, with 47 Republican representatives joining Democrats in defending marriage equality. While 65% gave full support, it still failed to fully reflect the 71% of Americans who support same-sex marriages, but it was enough to move the bill along.
Now, RFMA sits in the Senate’s hands, where Democrats will need to get 10 Republican senators to side with them in order to meet the 60-vote threshold for passage.
There is a big difference between being against something and tolerating something. This a case of the news trying to make a big deal out of notheing,
Of course
Quite correct, Donald!
Sadly sometimes our kids values go against the values they were raised with. I admire the Congressman for voting his conviction and still loving his son and attending.
We love our children in spite of the way they go against the way they were raised. My preacher would say hate the sin, but love the sinner.
This guy is an absolute Hypocrite, but don;t blame DONALD you stupid ASS.