John McCain gets petitioned on gay rights – from his wife.

(CNN) - U.S. Senators get a lot of petitions and a lot of mail but not a lot from their spouses in an official capacity.

But that’s exactly what happened Thursday when Cindy McCain signed a postcard petition sent to her husband, Sen. John McCain, urging him to support legislation barring discrimination against gays and lesbians in the workplace.

According to a story in the Washington Post, Cindy McCain was approached Thursday in a Phoenix Staples store by an organizer with the gay-rights group Human Rights Campaign. The organizer, John Gomez, asked her to sign a post-card to her husband encouraging his support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Both Human Rights Campaign and McCain’s office confirmed the story on Friday.

"Senator McCain enjoys and appreciates having discussions on the important issues of the day with all the members of his family, and he respects their views," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said in a statement.

The Non-Discrimination Act bill passed a Senate committee in July and may come soon to the chamber floor, writes the Post. John McCain, the five-term Republican from Arizona and 2008 Republican Presidential nominee, has not supported the legislation that would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees on grounds of sexual orientation and identity.

Cindy McCain has had very public disagreements with her husband over gay rights in the past. In 2010 she posed for a campaign supporting marriage for gay and lesbian couples.

–CNN’s Bryan Koenig contributed to this report.