Jon Huntsman, 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate, former governor of Utah, and alumni of the University of Pennsylvania recently wrote a column for a prominent Republican publication, stating that marriage equality should be a Republican cause. Huntsman supported civil unions during his presidential campaign and term as governor. He has since altered his position to supporting full marriage equality .

Huntsman wrote in his editorial, “Today we have an opportunity to do more: conservatives should start to lead again and push their states to join the nine others that allow all their citizens to marry. I’ve been married for 29 years. My marriage has been the greatest joy of my life. There is nothing conservative about denying other Americans the ability to forge that same relationship with the person they love.”

Seventy-five prominent members of the Republican Party have signed a brief to be submitted to the Supreme Court in favor of same-sex marriage. The brief is to be included in the Proposition 8 trial, in support of overturning the California law which bans same-sex marriage. Politicians who have signed the position statement include several members of the Bush administration and multiple former governors, including Huntsman.

While Huntsman and several other members of the Republican Party are committed to marriage equality, the official stance of the Republican party continues to define marriage as “between a man and a woman.”