Lawmaker’s role in advancing HJR-3 leaves gay son ‘terribly disappointed’

The gay son of an Indiana lawmaker who played a key role in advancing a same-sex constitutional ban onto the House floor last week is now speaking out against his father.

Chris Smith, the 43-year-old son of Rep. Milo Smith, R-Columbus, posted Saturday on Facebook that he was “terribly disappointed” in his father’s “decision and beliefs.”

Milo Smith chairs the Elections and Apportionment Committee in the House, which passed HJR-3 by a 9-3 vote last week. The full House may take up the issue as early as today.

Milo Smith voted in favor. His son said he watched an online live stream of the vote taking place.

“I know he loves me. That’s important,” Chris Smith said in an interview with The Indianapolis Star on Sunday. “But I’m just upset that he is voting the way he is.”

Chris Smith, who now lives in Culver City, Calif., said while he knew about HJR-3, he was not following it and his father’s stance on the amendment closely until the past few weeks. Before the most recent vote, he said he did not know Milo Smith voted in favor of the amendment in 2011.

Chris Smith said he posted the message on Indiana Equality’s Facebook page to support his Hoosier friends.

“I am here to support you and my friends who remain in Indiana,” he wrote in the Facebook post. “They are my extended family.”

Indiana Equality is an anti-HJR-3 group that promotes marriage rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.

Tory Flynn, a spokeswoman for the House Republican Caucus, said Monday morning that Milo Smith loves his son but is not discussing personal issues.

When asked about Milo Smith’s views on HJR-3, Flynn said he was also not discussing it with the press, adding, “I think he’s made his stance on the issue very clear.”

Last week, Milo Smith told The Indianapolis Star he supported the amendment, including its second sentence, which would ban civil unions and other similar arrangements.

“We need to settle this, and I believe the voters need to settle it,” Milo Smith said at the time.

Other Republicans have said they think that portion of the amendment goes too far and have suggested they might want to remove it when it reaches the full House.

While Milo Smith’s position on same-sex marriage has not changed, other prominent politicians have reversed their stance on the issue after learning a child was gay.

Last year, Republican Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, who had previously been against gay marriage, said he changed his mind after learning his son was gay.

Former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, whose daughter Mary Cheney is gay, has said he is in favor of gay marriage.

Chris Smith said he did not talk to his father after last week’s vote and has not talked to him since the Facebook post went up.

“I’m really torn right now. Personally, I don’t think I’m going to change his mind whatsoever,” Chris Smith said.

“I don’t know what to say to him. He doesn’t know what to say to me.”

Chris Smith, who came out as gay to his father when he was 20, said he didn’t know Milo Smith’s position on gay marriage until a few years ago.

“We’ve never really discussed my sexuality,” Chris Smith said.

In 2007, a friend sent Chris Smith a blog post on the left-leaning bilerico.com. The post cited a Columbus Record article in which Milo Smith said he supported a same-sex constitutional ban because “I believe it’s between one man and one woman and God.”

“It’s for completely religious reasons,” Chris Smith said. “He’s become far more religious now than when I was growing up.”

When he told his father he was gay, Chris Smith said, “He wanted to know if I had accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior. The answer was no.”

Chris Smith said he has a good relationship with his father and talks to him on the phone at least a few times a year. Chris Smith said his father recently suggested a family reunion and invited his son’s partner of 13 years to come along.

“My dad is a really nice guy. I’ve never heard him talk bad about anybody,” Chris Smith said.

“Periodically, one of us will give the other a call out of the blue. I’ve had decent conversations that always end with him saying, ‘I love you.’ I always say I love him.”

Call Star reporter Jill Disis at (317) 444-6137. Follow her on Twitter: @jdisis