The daughter of former President Ronald Reagan believes he would have backed gay marriage.
Patti Davis, the daughter of Reagan and his second wife, Nancy, is promoting her self-published novel Till Human Voices Wake Us, which tells the story of sisters-in-law who fall in love and leave their husbands.
In an appearance on Gwisssues, Davis told host Howard Bragman that her Republican father, who died in 2004, would be "puzzled at why anyone would have a problem with people wanting to be married and wanting to be committed to one another."
"And I also think, because he wanted government out of people's lives, that he would not understand the intrusion of government banning such a thing. This is not what he would have thought government should be doing," she added.
Phyllis Schlafly, an outspoken opponent of gay rights, rejected Davis' assertions.
"Of course, Reagan did associate with all the Hollywood crowd," Schlafly told The New York Times, "and chances are he probably knew a number of gays. I could understand that he might not have wanted to bar them from a job but that would not mean he would want them to get a marriage license."
Davis is not the only Reagan child speaking out on the subject. Michael Reagan recently wrote an op-ed stating that marriage equality would lead to polygamy.