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"Then just marry one woman": Warren's response to "old fashioned" view on same-sex marriage goes viral

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Elizabeth Warren's response to a question about same-sex marriage has gone viral. At CNN's LGBTQ Town Hall event Thursday night, Warren was asked a question about how she would respond to an "old-fashioned" supporter who believes marriage is between one man and one woman.

"I'm going to assume it is a guy who said that," Warren replied, "And I'm going to say, 'Well, then just marry one woman. I'm cool with that.'" The crowed erupted in applause and then Warren added: "Assuming you can find one."

It appears her joking went over well with the audience and viewers watching at home. Videos of Warren's comment was shared tens of thousands of times on social media.

During the town hall, the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates were asked questions solely about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer issues. When asked if there was ever a time she did not support same-sex marriage, Warren at first said she didn't think so, then reflected on her childhood growing up in a conservative household in Oklahoma.

"It may have been the case. You know, I don't have notes from when I was a little kid," Warren said, receiving a laugh from the audience. "To me, it's about what I learned in the church I grew up in." 

The senator from Massachusetts then recited the first song she remembers singing: "They are yellow, black and white. They are precious in his sight. Jesus loves all the children of the world," she sang. "But to me, that is the heart of it. That is the basis of the faith I grew up in. It is really about the preciousness of each and every life. It is about the worth of every human being."

Warren said growing up she knew there were a lot of different people in the world, and she knows that in those days there weren't many people who were "out." However, what always shocked her was the hatefulness towards people who were out or different — especially, she said, hate from people of faith.

"I think the whole foundation (of faith) is the worth of every single human being," she said. "And I get people may make decisions for themselves that are different than the decisions other people make. But, by golly, those are decisions about you — they are not decisions that tell other people what they can and cannot do."

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