# 90-year-old former US Senator to marry a man **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 24, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037 "2016-04-24T22:00:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/1 "2016-04-24T22:00:24Z")
90-year-old former US Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania has announced that he is going to marry his long-time significant other, 40-year-old Matthew Charlton. Congratulations to both. > **[Widowed former U.S. senator will remarry at 90, this time to a man](https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article73659682.html)** > > In personal essay, Harris Wofford announces remarriage to interior designer Matthew Charlton ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/2 "2016-04-25T05:57:01Z")
I like what he said here: - “I had seen firsthand - working and walking with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - that when the time was right, major change for civil rights came to pass in a single creative decade. It is right to expand our conception of marriage to include all Americans who love each other.”\* ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/3 "2016-04-25T08:34:06Z")
I ain’t sayin’ he’s a gold excavator, but he ain’t messin’ with no broke former senator. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/4 "2016-04-25T09:23:01Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > I ain’t sayin’ he’s a gold excavator, but he ain’t messin’ with no broke former senator. Da fuck is that supposed to mean? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/5 "2016-04-25T11:06:35Z")
He’s implying, due solely to the age difference, that the younger man, MUST be a gold digger. Not only is he marrying a much older man, BUT that man has been financially successful. Of course they’ve already been together for 15 yrs, so, yknow, it’s the LOOOONG con! No doubt he’s after all that big pension money! 15 yrs together? I’m going to say it’s a love match, but the world is full of skeptics, of course! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/6 "2016-04-25T11:19:35Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > He’s implying, due solely to the age difference, that the younger man, MUST be a gold digger. Not only is he marrying a much older man, BUT that man has been financially successful. > > Of course they’ve already been together for 15 yrs, so, yknow, it’s the LOOOONG con! No doubt he’s after all that big pension money! > > 15 yrs together? I’m going to say it’s a love match, but the world is full of skeptics, of course! So they hooked up when they were 25 and 75 respectively. I wish them well but still find that creepy (as I would for any gender pairing with that age difference). ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/7 "2016-04-25T11:24:44Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Da fuck is that supposed to mean? :dubious: It’s a silly parody of the lyrics to the song “Gold Digger”. I don’t know Wofford and Charlton and I don’t judge people I don’t know (and I caution myself against judging people I _do_ know) but I am always happy to make fun of social convention. Here at the good ol’ SDMB if someone were to post a news item about a 40 year old woman marrying a 90 year old man, if someone were to attempt to assert that it was _twue wuvvvv_ that person would be laughed off the boards. I actually like that we’re inclined to give Wofford and Charlton the benefit of the doubt but the truth is it’s because we _want_ to champion happy gay marriage stories. I’d think it wonderful if we adopted a live and let live attitude in all cases but, really, I’m inclinced to believe there’d be no warm fuzzies to share if we were reading about a 40 year old woman marrying a 90 year old man. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/8 "2016-04-25T11:30:01Z")
Not quite “hooked up at 25 and 75”: they met at those ages, but became friends before becoming lovers. I loved this bit from the NYT article, about his now-deceased wife: > [@](#): > > When I told her, “You’re my best friend,” she would reply, “and your best critic.” And when I said, “You’re my best critic,” she responded, “and your best friend.” He calls himself a romantic and sounds like it’s true in many ways. I wish them and their family the best 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/9 "2016-04-25T12:50:43Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > I’d think it wonderful if we adopted a live and let live attitude in all cases but, really, I’m inclinced to believe there’d be no warm fuzzies to share if we were reading about a 40 year old woman marrying a 90 year old man. As Sophie Tucker once allegedly said, it’s simple arithmetic. 40 goes into 90 a lot more than 90 goes into 40. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/10 "2016-04-25T13:28:50Z")
That’s one of my favorite Sophie Tucker jokes, **Shodan**! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/11 "2016-04-25T14:39:19Z")
Yes, there’s a huge age difference, but given that this relationship has evolved over 15 years I hardly think anyone is rushing into things. While it’s rare, it’s not impossible for there to be actual love across such an age difference, and the older the parties involved the less the age thing matters. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/12 "2016-04-25T15:59:25Z")
As my mother used to say, “Some people don’t mind the feeling of old age sinking in.” He and his wife were married for almost 50 years. His relationship with his now fiancee began about 5 years after her death. He was succeeded in the senate by Rick Santorum. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/13 "2016-04-25T17:15:12Z")
A 50-year age gap? Yikes. But hey, fifteen years is probably plenty of time to figure things out. Best of luck to them. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/14 "2016-04-25T18:08:26Z")
I find it jarring that the few headlines I’ve seen about this story make no mention of the gender of the Senator, just that there is a Senator marrying a man. Then I remember that oh yeah, most Senators (especially old old ones) throughout history have been men. I dunno why I find it so jarring! ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/15 "2016-04-25T18:56:40Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > He was succeeded in the senate by Rick Santorum. Will wonders never cease? ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/16 "2016-04-25T22:09:40Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Will wonders never cease? I’d have said “from the sublime to the ridiculous.” 😉 I have to figure out a particular penance for me, since Santorum came to prominence from MY state. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/17 "2016-04-25T22:23:42Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > So they hooked up when they were 25 and 75 respectively. I wish them well but still find that creepy (as I would for any gender pairing with that age difference). I agree. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/18 "2016-04-25T22:31:24Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > So they hooked up when they were 25 and 75 respectively. I wish them well but still find that creepy (as I would for any gender pairing with that age difference). Was I the only one who opened this thread, saw it was a gay marriage, and was sort of relieved? And does that make me a bad person? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/19 "2016-04-25T23:51:59Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > So they hooked up when they were 25 and 75 respectively. I wish them well but still find that creepy (as I would for any gender pairing with that age difference). What exactly is it that you find “creepy”? My own marriage has been called “creepy” because of our 20-year age difference. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037/20 "2016-04-26T02:04:54Z")
I’d assume **Gyrate** finds the 50 year age difference creepy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-year-old-former-us-senator-to-marry-a-man/753037.md?page=2)