Laura Bush, the wife of former President George W. Bush, recently spoke out against her inclusion in a Respect for Marriage video advertisement.
“When couples are committed, they ought to have, I think, the same rights that everyone has,” Mrs. Bush told CNN's Larry King in 2010 when asked if she personally supported marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.
Other prominent political leaders, like former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Vice President Dick Cheney and President Barack Obama are also included in the ad.
The coming out of former Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman — who led the GOP at a time when the party was backing the Federal Marriage Amendment and marriage amendments in states throughout the country — is inspiring mixed reactions among LGBT advocates as some criticize him for his past actions and others welcome his new public support.
Mehlman’s announcement about his sexual orientation officially became public in an interview published Aug. 25 by the Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder. According to the article, Mehlman told family and associates he’s gay and came to this conclusion fairly recently.