An openly gay Republican candidate for US Congress aired an ad for his election campaign Feb 13 showing himself marching in a Pride parade with his male partner, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Carl DeMaio is running for congress in San Diego this year; if elected, he would be the first Republican to be openly gay when first voted into office.
Two other gay Republican congressmen, Jim Kolbe and Steve Gunderson, were outed while in Congress.
DeMaio says he is running as one of a “new generation” of Republicans, challenging the party’s traditional stance.
“This is who I am,” he told the Journal. “It’s something that’s important to me. I want to embrace equality and feel like the party should, too.”
In the video, DeMaio is shown waving a rainbow flag with his partner, under the narration, “He believes in equality and diversity and is a defender of our personal freedoms.”
Two other openly gay Republican candidates, Dan Innis and Richard Tisei, will also be running for Congress this year.
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