Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the conservative
co-host of ABC's daytime talk show The View, supports gay
marriage.
In an
interview with website Fancast.com released Wednesday, Hasselbeck
said people are often surprised she backs gay marriage because of her
conservative leanings.
“I am not ultra-ultra-ultra
conservative on every issue. I actually support gay marriage,” she
said.
“I think the gay marriage thing would
definitely surprise people,” she added. “I mean, for some
people, it will surprise them to the the point they won't want to
hear it. 'No, that can't be, I really want to have this sort of idea
of her in my head,' so I sort of rain on their parade there.”
Hasselbeck's support of the institution
won't come as a surprise to anyone paying close attention. She's
already pivoted on the issue at least once in the past year.
In April, Hasselbeck backed Laura
Bush's revelation that she disagreed with her husband on the issue.
In discussing Bush's split on gay
marriage with her husband, former President George W. Bush,
Hasselbeck told fellow View co-hosts that instead of “just
talking about it and hating on it” conservatives should “actually
talk to someone who's loved [a member of the same sex] and have the
conversation about what can be done.”
“I think there are a lot of, maybe,
conservatives out there who are talking about gay marriage and not
necessarily with someone who wants to have gay marriage or has been
in a gay marriage,” Hasselbeck said on the program.
In 2008, the 33-year-old co-star held a
different view on the institution. During a heated discussion on the
passing of California's gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, Hasselbeck
said she was “happy” that voters had said no to judges that
legislate from the bench and agreed with co-star Sherri Shepherd who
said she believed marriage should be reserved for heterosexual
couples.