Ed Martin wants to make it clear that he does not support same-sex marriage, and neither does the Eagle Forum.
Martin has taken over as president of the Eagle Forum, a conservative interest group created in the 1970s by Phyllis Schlafly. That organization describes itself as pro-family and has traditionally been anti-abortion and anti-same-sex marriage.
Abortion has been legal nationwide since the Supreme Court ruled in the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case. Same-sex marriage is now legal in 36 states, and the Supreme Court will take up the issue this term.
When Martin was asked Thursday afternoon on “St. Louis on the Air” about the recent move toward legalizing same-sex marriage, he touted Schlafly’s work to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment in the ’70s, and said same-sex marriage was not yet “settled.”
“Being against homosexual marriage, to me, is not a position I want to be in. I want to talk about the definition of marriage, what family means and how it impacts us,” Martin said Thursday.
On Friday night, Martin followed-up in an email, saying he “adamantly opposes” same-sex marriage: “I believe we need to talk about why we think marriage as traditionally defined is important — in other words, to be ‘for marriage’ and not just oppose homosexual marriage. I did not mean that I was any less opposed to homosexual marriage. I remain adamantly opposed, as does Eagle Forum. To be clear: Defending the definition of marriage as we have understood it for a few thousand years is a priority effort of Eagle Forum and my work.”
Martin also is chairman of the Missouri Republican party until his successor is chosen.
“St. Louis on the Air” discusses issues and concerns facing the St. Louis area. The show is produced by Mary Edwards and Alex Heuer and hosted by veteran journalist Don Marsh. Follow us on Twitter: @STLonAir.
