Sen. McCain's Wife Poses for NOH8 Gay Marriage Campaign

Life just a whole lot messier for Senator John McCain and the Republican Party, and a whole lot more interesting for those of us following the same-sex marriage issue.

McCain's wife Cindy, yes, a Republican, is supporting same-sex marriage in a very public way, literally as a "poster girl" for gay marriage rights. Mrs. McCain is the latest recognizable face to don duct tape over her mouth and the phrase "NOH8" (No Hate) scrawled on one cheek for a photo project protesting California's Proposition 8, which bans same sex marriage in the state. The photo was posted on the NOH8 campaign's Web site yesterday.

To matters worse (for her husband and the GOP), Mrs. McCain was the one who reached out to NOH8 and offered to pose for the photo endorsement, according to the campaign's Web site (Don't be surprised if you can't log on to the site — it's been crashing ever since the news broke.)

McCain's daughter Meghan posed for the campaign herself back in June of '09 holding a small plastic elephant in her outstretched palms in a "take-that" stance as a gay Republican woman supporting gay marriage rights (see photo below.) Might we add that in lending their names and faces to the campaign, both McCain women have taken a solid stand for a woman's right to disagree with her political husband and/or father. Yikes! One can imagine nothing short of anarchy in a country where the First Lady's actions reflect so strongly on the President!

Of course, now that his own wife has switched camps, Senator McCain has been forced to restate his opposition to gay marriage (though the downside would be of course revealing just how little say he seems to have in his household.) McCain's office said in a statement that the Arizona senator and 2008 GOP presidential candidate respects the views of members of his family but remains opposed to gay marriage.

"Sen McCain believes the sanctity of marriage is only defined as between one man and one woman," the statement said.

The senator backed an Arizona ballot measure passed by voters in 2008 that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

Meanwhile, daughter Meghan was quick to trumpet her mother's actions on her Twitter page: "I couldn't be more proud of my mother for posing for the NOH8 campaign. I think more Republicans need to start taking a stand for equality."

One can only imagine what life is like in the McCain house this week. Are we the only ones picturing a very silent Mrs. McCain being followed around by her irate husband? "How could you do this to me???"

The NOH8 campaign was created a year ago by photographer Adam Bouska and Jeff Parshley. The photos are featured on the campaign's Web site, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, MySpace, and in a virtual world campaign in Second Life. More than 2,000 photos have been taken officially, including reality TV starts, the Kardashian sisters, actress Rose McGowan, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, singer Ashlee Simpson and husband Pete Wetnz, among other. Another 1,400 or so photos have been submitted by supporters.

As for the status of same sex marriage in the country, so far, only Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont allow it. Most sates have some kind of Defense of Marriage Act or constitutional ban on gay marriage on the books. Across the country, gay rights advocates are challenging the state bans on the basis that they violate state constitutional rights to equality.

Photos courtesy of NOH8 via NOH8campaign.com and Twitter, respectively.