Oregon Public Broadcasting

As gay and lesbian couples continue to legally wed in California, the Oregon political world has also been absorbed in the issue.

Wednesday, it was reported that Senator Gordon Smith apologized for comments he made at a gay rights panel last week. Ethan Lindsey reports.

In politics, you learn to always perk up your ears when a polititian says this.

Gordon Smith: “My campaign people are going to kill me for saying this, but....”

That was Sen. Gordon Smith at a gay rights panel held by the Center for American Progress, a think tank.

Smith said it, before talking about his Mormon faith, the religion's history of polygamy, and his vote to allow individual states to reject gay marriages from other states.

Gordon Smith: “Part of what I fear, as you start defining marriage -- we have a long history of doing that in this country, and my Mormon pioneer ancestors were the victims of that."

Democrats, gay rights advocates, and Smith's Democratic Senate rival Jeff Merkley all questioned Smith's comments.

In an interview with The Oregonian newspaper, Smith strongly apologized for the comments -- saying he regrets comparing gay marriage with  a Mormon history of polygamy.