Most people were downright shocked last week when Cindy McCain, wife of Senator and former Presidential candidate John McCain, came out in support of gay marriage by sitting for a NOH8 photo.

Now, John McCain would like to remind us that he is the politician in the family and that he is still against gay marriage.  A statement on his website reads:

“Senator McCain respects the views of members of his family.  The Senator strongly supported the effort to successfully pass Arizona Proposition 102, the Marriage Protection Amendment, and his opposition to gay marriage remains the same.  Senator McCain believes the sanctity of marriage is only defined as between one man and one woman.”

Cindy’s decision to pose for a photo was spontaneous.  Adam Bouska, the photographer, was shooting the cover for Meghan McCain’s new book and Cindy was there in support.  Adam Bouska told The Advocate:

“We were really shocked. We were in the studio working on shooting the cover for Meghan McCain’s new tell all book — memories from being on the road, from her public speaking. Her mom just came to the studio to show her support that day, and then she reached out to us and wanted to do it. So we were very surprised.”

On the NOH8 Campaign website, Bouska writes:

“In the year since we’ve started the NOH8 Campaign, we’ve often been surprised at some of the different individuals who have approached us showing their support. Few, though, have surprised us more than Cindy McCain — the wife of Senator John McCain and mother to vocal marriage equality advocate Meghan McCain. The McCains are one of the most well-known Republican families in recent history, and for Mrs. McCain to have reached out to us to offer her support truly means a lot. Although we have worked with Meghan McCain before and were aware of her own position, we’d never really thought the cause might be something her mother would get behind. We have a huge amount of respect for both of these women for being brave enough to make it known they support equal marriage rights for all Americans.”

I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when Cindy told her husband what she did that day.  I can only imagine that his reaction was neither supportive or pleasant.  Through Tom Dickinson’s 2008 Rolling Stone article, “Make Believe Maverick,” we learn that John McCain can be downright nasty towards his wife:

“During his 1992 campaign, at the end of a long day, McCain’s wife, Cindy, mussed his receding hair and needled him playfully that he was “getting a little thin up there.” McCain reportedly blew his top, cutting his wife down with the kind of language that had gotten him hauled into court as a high schooler: “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.” Even though the incident was witnessed by three reporters, the McCain campaign denies it took place.”

Once again, here is the famous Cindy McCain NOH8 photo that has now been seen around the world:

(Photos: Cindy McCain: Adam Bouska; John McCain: danagraves’ photostream)

Tags: Adam Bouska, Arizona, Editorial, Gay Marriage, NOH8