Skip to Content

Former president George H.W. Bush, 89, served as an official witness at a same-sex marriage ceremony in Maine last weekend, according to reports.

H.W. and wife Barbara attended the wedding of longtime friends Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen, who own a general store in Kennebunkport.

That seaside town has long been home to the Bush summer estate.

Thorgalsen posted a photo on Facebook of the 41st U.S. President with the marriage license. Gay marriage became legal in Maine in December.

George H.W. Bush Image
(Getty Images)

George H.W. Bush was in the White House from 1989-1993, when same-sex marriage and LGBT rights weren’t as big a political issue as they are today.

His son, former President George W. Bush, opposed gay marriage and in 2004 announced support for a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw it.

 

But his wife Laura Bush and their daughter Barbara support gay marriage, as does his former V.P. Dick Cheney, whose daughter Mary Cheney is openly gay.

In July, W. made news when he wouldn’t comment on the issue, saying he “shouldn’t be taking a speck out of someone else’s eye when I have a log in my own.”

His father, meanwhile, has made his position quite clear.