Thompson won't support gay marriage ban

SIOUX CITY, Iowa, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., said Friday that he would not support a constitutional ban on gay marriage, but would allow states to decide.

Speaking at a campaign event in Sioux City, Iowa, the candidate for the Republican presidential nomination said he would support individual states' rights to create their own legislation regarding gay marriage, the Des Moines (Iowa) Register reported.

"I would support a constitutional amendment which says some off-the-wall court decision in one state that recognizes a marriage in a state like Massachusetts cannot go to another state and have it recognized in that state," Thompson said.

Thompson's stance on the controversial topic is similar to that of fellow Republican candidates, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Yet Thompson's stance did appear to differ a bit from his previous political efforts on the topic.

The Register said while a member of the Senate, Thompson supported the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that made a marriage between two people of the same sex illegal under federal law.