Matt Cartwright, the Democratic nominee
for a congressional seat in Pennsylvania, has reversed his opposition
to gay marriage.
“I'm for marriage equality,”
Cartwright told The Times Leader last week. “There's no
reason to discriminate against gay people. They're not a threat
against anybody.”
Cartwright had previously told the same
paper that he disagreed with President Barack Obama on the issue of
marriage equality.
“With respect to gay marriage, I'm
not there yet,” he
said. “I'm very old school and old-fashioned. I'm not saying
I'll never get there.”
Cartwright's Republican rival to
represent the people of the 17th District, Laureen
Cummings, a Tea Party organizer, supports neither marriage nor civil
unions for gay and lesbian couples.
Cartwright defeated incumbent
Congressman Tim Holden, an opponent of gay marriage, in the state's
Democratic primary to proceed to the General Election. Holden's
district had previously leaned Republican, but after a recent redraw
the district now trends more Democratic.