Republican Senator Susan Collins announced her support for gay marriage for the first time after getting an endorsement from the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy organization in her bid for re-election. “A number of states, including my home state of Maine, have now legalized same-sex marriage, and I agree with that decision,” the Maine Republican said in a statement issued after several news organizations made inquiries. Collins joins three other GOP senators who have said they support gay marriage: Illinois’ Mark Kirk, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Ohio’s Rob Portman. Senator Collins, who claims to be a Roman Catholic, in 2012 voted against the USCCB supported “Respect for Rights of Conscience Act” which would have rescinded the Obama administration’s mandate requiring coverage of contraception in health-care plans. Of the other Republican Senators who support gay-marriage: Murkowski is also a Catholic.
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