Has Jeb Bush shown Republicans a new way to talk about gay marriage?

Sainz, now a leader of the gay rights movement as a vice president of the Human Rights Campaign, sees an important evolution in the likely 2016 presidential candidate.

In 1994, Jeb Bush argued that gay men and lesbians did not deserve special legal protection and said that “sodomy” should not be “elevated to the same constitutional status as race and religion.” But this week, Bush said people should accept court rulings that legalize same-sex marriage and “show respect” for gays in committed relationships, while reiterating his long-held belief that “marriage is a sacrament.”…

Sainz said that for years Republican politicians have talked about same-sex marriage with a negative tone, but “Bush put that paradigm on its head.”

“He provides people with a sense that he understands there are loving gay couples who are in fact getting married,” Sainz said.