In their own words

Tim Pawlenty

“I don’t think all domestic relationships are the same as traditional marriage. Marriage between a man and a woman is something that should remain elevated socially, culturally, and practically, legally, morally in our society.”

Tim Pawlenty, July 24, 2011, CNN

Rob Portman

What I’m concerned about in Paycheck Fairness and other legislation like that is the fact that it will spawn a lot of litigation the way the legislation is written. So you don’t want it to be a boon to lawyers, you want it to actually help people. But no one should discriminate.

Sen. Rob Portman on ENDA, June 14, 2011, ThinkProgress

Marco Rubio

“In terms of the Bible’s interpretation of marriage, what our faith teaches is pretty straightforward. There’s not much debate about that. The debate is about what society should tolerate, and what society should allow our laws to be. I believe marriage is a unique and specific institution that is the result of thousands of years of wisdom, which concluded that the ideal — not the only way but certainly the ideal — situation to raise children to become productive and healthy humans is in a home with a father and mother married to each other.”

Sen. Marco Rubio, June 19, 2011, Christianity Today

Paul Ryan

“I support the Wisconsin Amendment to define marriage between a man and a woman. Look, Bill Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act. If I recall from the last presidential campaign, President Obama and Vice President Biden said that they support marriage as being between a man and a woman.”

Paul Ryan, Feb. 19, 2011, “Meet the Press”

Bobby Jindal

“We’re not going to renew it. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. We oppose discrimination. I think we’ve got strong federal and state laws that protect our people.”

Gov. Bobby Jindal, Aug. 8, 2008, Associated Press, when asked about barring anti-gay discrimination in government