Jim Petro joins the pro- gay-marriage cause

Stop whatever's left of the presses.  Another well-known Ohio Republican has experienced an  epiphany arising from his family.  Following  Sen. Rob Portman's defense of same-sex marriage because his son is gay, former Ohio auditor and attorney general Jim Petro announced today  that he, too, supports gay marriage.  Here's  his statement to a news conference:

Last year, my daughter Corbin married Jessica Gelman in Massachusetts, where same-gender marriages are legal.  They are expecting a child soon, and deserve the same protections guaranteed to other families.  Seeing their happiness, and realizing all the rights they would be denied here in Ohio has proven to me the importance of equal marriage in our state"

Referring to FreedomOhio's  grass-roots initiative for an amendment to kill the gay marriage ban in the Ohio, Petro said;

"I'm thoroughly convinced that bringing marriage equality to Ohio is the right thing to do.  This amendment is rooted in a central conservative value, namely, freedom - the freedom to love, the freedom  of religion, and the freedom from big government.  I am proud to endorse the amendment."

Good,  Jim Petro!

Perhaps it will lead other prominant Republicans to shed their own enmity to the social values that are rapidly changing these days.  There are doubtless other social conservatives  faced with offspring (or their closeted selves) who could  step forward.  And at the local level, every county GOP chairman, the field hands of the people in power in Columbus,  needs to address the question.   So what about it, Alex Arshinkoff?  It's 2013, you know.

By the way, Phil Burress, the head of Citizens for Community Values (a conservative Cincinnati group that germinates in southwest Ohio) hissed that Petro has no right to impose his own family values on others.   Hey, Phil.  Isn't it the other way around?  Thought so.