Mark Warner goes to Facebook to announce support for gay marriage

Business, economics, jobs – that’s Mark Warner’s wheelhouse. On Monday, the Virginia Democrat stepped outside his wheelhouse to take a rare stand on a social issue, and not just any social issue, but the social issue – gay marriage.

“I support marriage equality because it is the fair and right thing to do,” Sen. Warner announced in a post on his Facebook page, on the eve of arguments in front of the United States Supreme Court on a California constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Warner is famous for avoiding taking stands on issues, but he noted in his Facebook post that he was the first Virginia governor to extend anti-discrimination protections for LGBT state workers, and that in 2010 in the U.S. Senate he supported an end to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

“Like many Virginians and Americans, my views on gay marriage have evolved, and this is the inevitable extension of my efforts to promote equality and opportunity for everyone,” Warner said, adding, “I believe we should continue working to expand equal rights and opportunities for all Americans.”