President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush served as official witnesses at a same-sex wedding in Maine over the weekend.
According to ABC News, Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen who own a Kennebunk, Maine general store, and are longtime friends of the Bushes, had their marriage license witnessed by the former President and his wife.
“This has been a wonderful wedding experience for us and we were honored to have President and Mrs. Bush not only in attendance but also happy to sign our license,” said Thorgalsen. “As Nancy Sosa, our officiant, said, ‘God did not make a love that is wrong.’ If we can make a difference in the world with our wedding and marriage, we are thrilled.”
A photo of Bush signing the marriage license was posted on Thorgalsen’s Facebook page.
Bush’s son, former President George W. Bush declined to comment on his view of same-sex marriages or about his father’s decision to serve as an official witness at the wedding.
According to the Associated Press, in 2005, George W. Bush opposed same-sex marriage and announced his support for a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw it. His wife, Laura, and their daughter Barbara support same-sex marriage. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, his brother, has said the states should decide the issue, and, in June, told the Faith & Freedom Coalition the nation needs to be supportive of non-traditional families.
In July, George W. Bush quoted Scripture, stating that he “shouldn’t be taking a speck out of someone else’s eye when I have a log in my own,” when he said that he would not be commenting on the issue of same-sex marriage because he was no longer in politics.
Same-sex marriage was legalized in Maine in December of last year.