Marco Rubio Says Being Gay Isn’t A Choice — But Doesn’t Think They Should Marry

Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation this morning. On that appearance, Rubio said that he doesn’t believe that being gay or lesbian is a choice that an individual makes.

“I believe that sexual preference is something that people are born with.”

Perhaps contrarily, however, Marco went on to say that he believes that marriage should be “between one man and one woman,” followed with yet another brain teaser: “…it’s not that I’m against gay marriage.”

With a collection of statments like that, if you are scratching your head wondering exactly where Marco Rubio stands on the issue of gay marriage, you are not alone.

When Marco Rubio admits that being gay or lesbian is something you are born with, like race or eye color, and then says that he doesn’t believe that based on how you’re born, the country you’re born into should not legally recognize your love and committment to another human being.

Rubio went on to say that he feels like the legalization of same-sex marriage should be made on a state by state basis, and not via a constitutional ammendment.

“States have always regulated marriage, and if a state wants to have a different definition, you should petition the state legislature and have a political debate. I don’t think courts should be making that decision, and I don’t believe same-sex marriage is a constitutional right.”

So, to recap, potential presidential candidate, Senator Marco Rubio, feels that being gay is not something you choose to be, it’s just something you are — however, regardless of whether or not you chose to be gay, the country as you live in as a whole does not need to recognize your difference. In fact, your country as a whole can choose to isolate and discriminate against you because of the way you were born by way of neglecting to offer you rights that others who were born differently are offered.

Until 1967, almost fifty years ago, it was left up to the states to decide whether or not it was legal for a black individual to marry a white individual. Marriage, and even sex, between interracial couples was a criminal act in many states. Finally, we, as a people and a country came to our senses. The Supreme Court — a court that Senator Marco Rubio would say he does not think should be making decisions about marriage — heard the case of Loving V. Virginia, and the Court decided that anti-miscegenation laws, (laws that discriminate against interracial relationships) were unconstitutional.

If Marco Rubio believes that being gay is not a choice, that it is just something you are born as, how can he not believe that it is not a constitutional issue of whether or not gay individuals can marry?

[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]