Gay Son of GOP Congressman Defends Dad's Opposition to Marriage Equality

Arizona congressman Matt Salmon recently reiterated his opposition to marriage equality, prompting his gay son to come to his defense.

After the Republican politician stated his position in a television interview, his Facebook page was barraged with negative comments. In response, Matt Salmon's son, also named Matt, spoke to the Washington Blade about his father.

"He doesn't see it as not allowing his son to be with the person he loves, because he knows that regardless of where marriage is, I'm going to be with the person that I love," he told the newspaper. "Whether I can legally marry in Arizona or not, it's not going to change that fact and my father knows that and he accepts my desire to be with the man that I love. As far as it goes with marriage, for him it's a matter of what marriage means to him -- to him marriage is defined as between a man and a woman. It has nothing to do with the way he views a person's relationship, and that's the thing that I think is hard for people to understand."

The younger Salmon was raised with the Mormon faith and is a former president of the Log Cabin Republicans; in 2011 he filmed an It Gets Better video. Watch it below.