NEW YORK – Former Tennessee congressman and potential U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. got a tough reception while speaking to a gay advocacy group, and tried to explain he no longer opposes gay marriage.

Ford had voted twice for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Speaking Wednesday to the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York, Ford was interrupted numerous times by protesters. They said they don't trust him and shouted that he is "anti-gay.

Ford said all he can do is explain he was wrong in the past and has changed his mind.

Ford is considering challenging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in this fall's Democratic primary. He moved to New York after losing the 2006 U.S. Senate race in Tennessee.

He says he is close to deciding whether to run.