One day after saying he would respect New York’s decision to pass a law legalizing same-sex marriage, former Utah Gov. and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman told MSNBC’s Morning Joe that “redefining marriage” is “impossible” and stressed that he does not support marriage equality for gays and lesbians:
HUNTSMAN: I think redefining marriage is something that would be impossible and it’s something I would not be in favor of. But I believe, just subordinate to marriage we have not done an adequate job in the area of equality and reciprocal beneficiary rights. I’ve spoken out about that, my support of civil unions, some people like it, some people don’t.
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In 2008, Huntsman signed legislation expanding domestic partner benefits for Utah’s unmarried couples, including gay people. He has endorsed civil unions since February 2009, and recently told ThinkProgress that he intends to continue supporting them despite the fact that it may hurt him with social conservative voters.