House Republican who attended his gay son's wedding voted against the same-sex marriage protection bill for a 2nd time

• Rep. Glenn Thompson voted against a same-sex marriage protection bill for the second time on Thursday.
• He first voted against it in July, days before attending and speaking at his gay son's wedding.

Republican Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania voted against a bill to protect same-sex and interracial marriage for the second time on Thursday, despite attending and speaking at his gay son's wedding shortly after voting against the bill in July.

"Everybody is entitled to an opinion," Thompson told Insider ahead of casting his vote.

The House on Thursday passed an amended version of the Respect for Marriage Act, with eight fewer Republicans supporting the bill than in July.

In July, Gawker revealed that Thompson, who's served in Congress since 2009, was set to attend his son's wedding to a man after voting against the bill, which repeals the Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage as between a man and a woman and requires states to recognize marriages performed in other states.

Thompson spoke at his son's wedding, according to audio leaked to BuzzFeed News.

"We love it when they find their one true love, especially when they become a part of our families then," he said in his speech. "So this has been a really good experience ... to have a new son enter the family!"

Thompson told Huffington Post reporter Arthur Delaney on Thursday that he had discussed the issue with his son, but declined to say how his son felt about it.

"You know, I love my son, my son loves me, and he knows that I'm a principled man and I'm certainly supporting him and all my kids," said Thompson. "He knows that my support for constitutional rights in this country are paramount."

Thompson, apparently aware of the contentious nature of his vote, handed out printed-out copies of his statement on the bill, along with his press secretary's card.

"Individuals have the freedom and the right to choose who to grow old with in life," the statement read. "However, the bill lacks the appropriate constitutional protections for religious liberties enshrined in the First Amendment."

Despite Republican senators amending the bill to add religious liberty protections, many conservative House members said they were unsatisfied with the result.

"I was shocked. Shocked and disappointed by some of my Republican friends in the Senate and their disregard for the First Amendment," said Thompson ahead of the vote.

"This is a tough situation, there's no doubt about it," he added.