''I probably needed to add a few words after that 'it's fine with me,' and that it’s fine with me that a state is using their sovereign rights to decide an issue. Obviously gay marriage is not fine with me. My stance hasn’t changed. I believe marriage is between one man and one woman.... My comment reflects my recognition that marriage and most issues of the family have been historically decided by people at the state and local level. And that is absolutely the state of law under our Constitution.... It's a small group of activist judges, and frankly a small handful of states and liberal special interest groups that are intent on a redefinition, if you will, of marriage on the nation for all of us, which I adamantly oppose.''
Rick Perry speaking with Family Research Council head and anti-gay crusader Tony Perkins.(FRC)
Perry is currently seen as a darling of religious social conservatives who are hoping that he will enter the contest to become the Republican presidential nominee. Perry and Perkins agreed that the Constitution should be changed to fit their religious ideology that defines marriage as a status reserved for heterosexual couples. They are both calling for a Federal Marriage Amendment.
Perry was quoted last week by the Associated Press as saying:
''Our friends in New York six weeks ago passed a statute that said marriage can be between two people of the same sex. And you know what? That's New York, and that's their business, and that's fine with me.... That is their call. If you believe in the 10th Amendment, stay out of their business.''
MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow and other progressive media sources have been hammering away at Perry's supportive ties to anti-gay religious demagogues.
