WASHINGTON — Dozens of prominent Republicans — including top advisers to former President George W. Bush, four former governors and two members of Congress — have signed a legal brief arguing that gay people have a constitutional right to marry, a position that amounts to a direct challenge to Speaker John A. Boehner and reflects the civil war in the party since the November election.

The document will be submitted this week to the Supreme Court in support of a suit seeking to strike down Proposition 8, a California ballot initiative barring same-sex marriage, and all similar bans. The court will hear back-to-back arguments next month in that case and another pivotal gay rights case that challenges the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Read more at

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/us/politics/prominent-republicans-sign-brief-in-support-of-gay-marriage.html?google_editors_picks=true&_r=0

Looks like the times are changing quicker then people realize.  With any hope gay marriage will happen within the next 12 years.

If the Republicans would drop the social crap, and try to limit the size/growth of government, they would easily start besting the Democrats in federal elections. Why they pander to the religious right, I have no idea. Its not like that group is suddenly going to go Democrat any time soon.

This assumes that Republicans are genuinely in favor of limiting government, and that there are more votes for them pandering to libertarians than to social conservatives. I'm not at all sure that either of those is the case.

I think that there are a few republicans that genuinely want to reduce/limit the size of government. However, they usually get ostrasized by the mainstream GOP. I have no doubt that guys such as Rand Paul and Justin Amash are genuine. However, they seem to be outside of the mainstream (unfortunately).

They'll be exiled and "exposed" as RINOs soon enough.

Progress!

Republican'ts haven't done anything to show they want of limit the size of Gov. it's all talk.

OP: republican'ts backing same sex mariage!!! no wonder the weathers so bad, and hells about to freeze over.

Rut roh. More Republican in-fighting soon? The party is going to split at the seams one day--which would probably be a good thing.

This.

It'll be dumber and dumber to maintain their "gay panic" platform with each passing election cycle. Not only that, but the Dems losing the social issues as a wedge would leave huge cracks in their donor base as well. The writing has been on the wall for years now.

This kind of thing is why I'm an independent, man. I only agree with either party some of the time, and they don't even deliver on those parts to begin with. *sigh*

Neither Paul nor Amash are Republican, they are Libertarian's.

Traditional Republicans are not as socially conservative as the current Republicans are.  When Republican stalwarts such as Reagan and Lincoln would not fit into the current Republican party, you can bet Republicans have moved right of their own ideals.