U.S. Sen Rob Portman's son, Will, wrote a , explaining in great detail how he decided to "come out of the closet" about being gay; and how his father reacted.
The junior senator from Ohio learned his son was gay two years ago. Earlier this month, Portman came out in favor of gay marriage, the only Republican senator who has done so.
Will Portman, a junior at Yale University's Trumbull College and one of three children of Rob and Jane Portman, said he wrote a letter to his parents in 2011, his freshman year at Yale.
"They were surprised to learn I was gay, and full of questions,'' Will Portman wrote, "but they were rock-solid supportive. This was the beginning of the end of feeling ashamed of who I was."
In the summer of 2012, Sen. Portman was up for consideration as Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's running mate.
"My dad told the Romney campaign that I was gay; that he and my mom were supportive and proud of their son and that we would be open about it on the campaign trail,'' Will Portman wrote.
