Prop 8 lawyer says his views on gay marriage are 'evolving'

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Prop 8 lawyer says his views on gay marriage are 'evolving'
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Charles Cooper, the lawyer who argued before the Supreme Court in defense of California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage, announced that his views on the matter are "evolving."

The change of heart occurred after Cooper learned his stepdaughter was gay. The Associated Press reports that in a new book about Proposition 8, Forcing the Spring: Inside the Fight for Marriage Equality, Cooper says, "My views evolve on issues of this kind the same way as other people's do, and how I view this down the road may not be the way I view it now, or how I viewed it ten years ago."

As the AP points out, Cooper isn't alone in changing his mind on same-sex marriage after learning a child is gay. In 2013, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) reversed his opposition after he found out his son was gay.

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Cooper's stepdaughter, Ashley, is set to marry her partner in Massachusetts this summer.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.