Former Senator Makes the Republican Case for Marriage

Former U.S. senator Alan Simpson says that marriage is a right that all adults should be able to exercise, in a new ad that will air in Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Colorado as well as on national cable channels.

"I'm a Republican, and the party's basic core is government out of your life and the right to be left alone," Simpson says in the ad. "Whether you're gay or lesbian or straight, if you love someone and you want to marry them, marry them."

Simpson and 20 other Republicans have signed briefs related to two hearings that will be held in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding marriage equality. Cases from Utah and Oklahoma will be heard this month, though since the 10th Circuit also encompasses Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico, those states may also be affected by the outcome of the cases. The ad is part of a six-figure campaign from Freedom to Marry.

"Senator Simpson represents what many fellow western Republicans -- and a majority of residents in the West -- believe in: individual liberty and a live-and-let-live ethos," said Freedom to Marry president Evan Wolfson.