WATCH: Ariz. Rep. Says Gay Son Doesn't Change His Opposition to Marriage Equality

Despite having an openly gay son, U.S. representative Matt Salmon, an Arizona Republican, still does not support marriage equality.

"I don't support the gay marriage," Salmon, a Mormon representing Arizona's Fifth Congressional District, told Phoenix's 3TV News. "My son is by far one of the most important people in my life. I love him more than I can say. … I'm just not there, as far as believing in my heart that we should change 2,000 years of social policy in favor of a redefinition of the family."

Salmon mentioned Ohio senator Rob Portman's recent change of heart on marriage equality, prompted by his own son coming out as gay. "It doesn't mean that I don't have respect; it doesn't mean that I don't sympathize with some of the issues," Salmon told 3TV. "It just means that I haven't evolved to that station. Rob Portman apparently has."

But Zack Ford at ThinkProgress LGBT posits that perhaps Salmon's family isn't as accepting as they'd like us to believe. Salmon voted in favor banning same-sex marriage and adoption by gays, reports Ford. What's more, Salmon's son told the Phoenix New Times in 2010 that his family refuses to let him bring his partner of 10 years around the house, and that his siblings unfriended him on Facebook over his support for LGBT equality. Watch the interview below.