Harkin changes views on same-sex marriage [View All]

JOHNSTON, Iowa — Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin said Friday he no longer holds the same views he held when he voted for the federal Defense of Marriage Act that prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriage nearly 13 years ago.

Harkin described his own evolution on the issue during a taping of Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” which airs this weekend.

“We all grow as we get older, and we learn things and we become more sensitive to people and people’s lives,” Harkin said. “And the more I’ve looked at that, I’ve grown to think differently about how people — how we should live. And I guess I’m at the point that, you know — I’m to that point of live and let live,” Harkin said.

The issue has grabbed headlines since the Iowa Supreme Court last month struck down Iowa’s law banning same-sex marriage as unconstitutional.

Some Republicans have been pushing to amend the state’s constitution to ban gay marriage, but the Democratic-controlled Iowa Legislature declined to take it up this year.

http://www.qctimes.com/news/local/article_e5e4b77a-3c19-11de-8d1d-001cc4c03286.html