Walker Says He Has No Problem With His Son’s Attendance Of Same-Sex Wedding

Gov. Scott Walker said on Tuesday that he has no problem with his teenage son’s decision to serve as an official witness to a family member’s gay marriage last month.

During the week-long window in early June when clerks were issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, 19-year-old Alex Walker served as a legal witness to a wedding between first lady Tonette Walker’s cousin and her same-sex partner.

Governor Walker, who has a long record of supporting Wisconsin’s ban on same-sex marriage, was asked on Tuesday whether his son had his blessing to be a witness.

“He doesn’t need my blessing to do anything he does,” said Walker. “Yes, I knew that, and it’s perfectly fine for him to do that. In terms of marriages, I’m not a lawyer. The courts are ultimately the place where that’s being decided right now.”

Walker was also asked whether he’d talked about same-sex marriage with his son and whether this was a sign that the two see the issue differently.

“He was at a family member’s event,” said Walker. “This is not a policy statement on his behalf. This is something where he was with a family member, and it’s a family member we love dearly.”

Alex Walker attended the wedding at the same time Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen was trying vigorously to stop clerks from issuing marriage licenses, going so far as to say that they could be breaking the law. Walker said Van Hollen’s comments did not apply to his son.

“He didn’t talk about individuals. He talked about clerks, specifically,” said Walker. My son’s not a clerk, so I don’t think there’s any problem there.”

Walker said last month that his views on gay marriage don’t matter since the state’s ban was voted on by the public and is now up for courts to decide.

His Democratic opponent, Mary Burke, supports gay marriage and said voters deserve to hear where Walker stands.