Charlie Crist comes out for marriage equality
Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announced his support for marriage equality on his Facebook page last night.
“Some great news: On Tuesday, Delaware became the 11th state to allow marriage equality. And just a few days ago, Rhode Island adopted a similar measure, which followed victories last fall in Maine, Maryland and Washington. I most certainly support marriage equality in Florida and look forward to the day it happens here,” Crist wrote.
A frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida, Crist previously served as governor of Florida as a Republican from 2007 to 2011. Known as a moderate while serving as governor, Crist did not elaborate on his evolution on this issue.
As the Tampa Bay Times notes, Crist supported a same-sex marriage ban in Florida while running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2006. He signed his name to a petition attempting to ban marriage equality and touted his support for “traditional marriage.”
Crist did not seek re-election after one term as governor, instead running for the U.S. Senate. Marco Rubio beat Crist for the Republican nomination. As a result, Crist left the Republican Party and ran as an independent, but was defeated by Rubio for the Senate seat. In December, Crist announced on Twitter that he had formally joined the Democratic Party while attending a holiday reception at the White House.
[Photo: Charlie Crist (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)]
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