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  (Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
  Republican presidential candidate former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) takes the stage upon arriving at the CNN GOP National Security debate in Washington, November 22, 2011.

Newt Gingrich has told a gay man at a political event in Iowa that he should vote for President Obama.

The man, a democrat and long-time resident of Iowa, attended the event at Smokey Row Coffee House to better understand some of the issues Gingrich has brought up on the issue of homosexuality in the past.

“I asked him; if he’s elected how does he plan to engage gay Americans? How are we to support him? And he told me to support Obama,” said Scott Arnold, an associate professor of writing at William Penn University. The question was asked in reference to gay marriage.

“I think those for whom the only issue that really matters is the definition of marriage, I won't get their support. I accept that as reality,” said Gingrich.

The former House Speaker has taken a strong stance on gay marriage. In a past political event in Iowa, he described gay marriage as “a temporary aberration that will dissipate,” and said, “I think that it just fundamentally goes against everything we know.”

Gingrich has also joined alliances with the American Family Association, an organization that supports family values and is also against gay marriage.

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However, Gingrich still felt he could gain the votes of people for whom gay marriage was not a leading issue.

“On the other hand, for those to whom it's not the central issue in their life, if they care about job creation, if they care about national security, if they care about a better future for the country at large, then I think I'll get their support," Gingrich said.