Gay New Hampshire Voter Confronts Marco Rubio: 'You Want To Say We Don't Matter'

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Monday faced tough questions from a New Hampshire voter over his stance on gay marriage.

Timothy Kierstead, who is gay, confronted the 2016 Republican presidential hopeful at a campaign stop in Manchester, asking him: "Why do you want to put me back in the closet? "

“I don’t. You can live any way you want," Rubio shot back. "I just believe marriage is between one man and one woman." 

Kierstead said that he has been married for a "long time" and accused Rubio of trying "to say we don't matter."

“No, I just believe marriage is between one man and one woman," Rubio repeated.

“I think that’s what the law should be. And if you disagree you should have the law changed by a legislature," he added.

When Kierstead reminded Rubio that the Supreme Court last year legalized gay marriage nationwide, Rubio ended the conversation.

"I respect your view," he said.

As Rubio walked away, Kierstead accused him of being a "typical politician."

After the confrontation, Kierstead told the New York Times that he is an independent voter but would not support any Republican candidate because of their opposition to gay marriage.

“They want to take my rights away as a citizen of the United States,” he said. “Love is love. People don’t choose who they are going to love.”

Rubio, like most of the GOP presidential contenders, is opposed to gay marriage and said in December that if elected president he would roll back the Supreme Court decision, calling gay marriage a "sin."

"It's not about discrimination. It is about the definition of a very specific, traditional, and age-old institution," he said.

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