Hoton mayor race shows progrs - and lims - of gay rights

Contents:

• PRINT BIN SIGNS GAY MARRIAGE LAW, LLS ‘A BLOW AGAST HATE’
• BIN LLED GAY MARRIAGE 'EVABLE' AND SOON 'LL BE LAW
• HOTON MAYOR RACE SHOWS PROGRS - AND LIMS - OF GAY RIGHTS
• GAY MARRIAGE

PRINT BIN SIGNS GAY MARRIAGE LAW, LLS ‘A BLOW AGAST HATE’

Now that gay marriage has been legalized natnwi, we n't help but be giddy about all the amazg LGBT weddgs that are about to take off H-Town. Bin plans to sign legislatn this g week that will protect gay unns even if the Supreme Court reviss s lg supportg a natnwi right of same-sex upl to marry.

It's the latt part of Bin's legacy on gay rights, which clus his unexpected endorsement of marriage equaly on natnal televisn a ago when he was vice print.

BIN LLED GAY MARRIAGE 'EVABLE' AND SOON 'LL BE LAW

)WASHINGTON – A celebratory crowd of thoands bundled up on a chilly Tuday afternoon to watch Print Joe Bin sign gay marriage legislatn to law, a joyful ceremony that was tempered by the backdrop of an ongog nservative backlash over genr issu.

And the Whe Hoe played a rerdg of Bin's televisn terview om a ago, when he ed a polil furor by unexpectedly disclosg his support for gay marriage. Three days later, Obama himself publicly endorsed gay marriage. "“Racism, antisemism, homophobia, transphobia, they’re all nnected, " Bin said.

”Among the atten were the owner of Club Q, a gay nightclub Colorado where five people were killed a shootg last month, and two survivors of the attack. ”The new law is tend to safeguard gay marriag if the U. Wa, the 1973 lg that ma abortn available across the a ncurrg opn the se that overturned Roe, Jtice Clarence Thomas suggted revisg other cisns, cludg the legalizatn of gay marriage, generatg fear that more rights uld be imperiled by the urt’s nservative majory.

HOTON MAYOR RACE SHOWS PROGRS - AND LIMS - OF GAY RIGHTS

Lawmakers crafted a promise that was tend to assuage nservative ncerns about relig liberty, such as ensurg church uld still refe to perform gay addn, stat would not be required to issue marriage licens to same-sex upl if the urt overturns s 2015 lg. Tuday’s ceremony marks another chapter Bin’s legacy on gay rights, which clus his surprise endorsement of marriage equaly 2012. Bin voted for the the time of Bin's 2012 terview, gay marriage remaed ntroversial, but support had expand to roughly half of U.

His admistratn clus the first openly gay Cabet member, Transportatn Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and the first transgenr person to receive Senate nfirmatn, Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Leve.

Print Joe Bin plans to sign legislatn this g week that will protect gay unns even if the Supreme Court reviss s lg supportg a natnwi right of same-sex upl to marry. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)WASHINGTON – A ago, then-Vice Print Joe Bin shocked the polil world and preempted his boss by sudnly clarg his support for gay marriage — one of the untry's most ntent issu — on natnal televisn.

GAY MARRIAGE

He predicted, “Thgs are changg so rapidly, ’s gog to bee a polil liabily the near term for someone to say, ‘I oppose gay marriage. He plans on Tuday to sign legislatn, passed by bipartisan majori Congrs, to protect gay unns — even if the Supreme Court should revis, as some fear or hope, s lg supportg a natnwi right of same-sex upl to 's signature will burnish his legacy as a champn of equaly at a time when the LGBTQ muny is anx to safeguard legal chang om a backlash on the right that has ed cendiary rhetoric, particularly agast transgenr people. Chad Griff, who led the Amerin Foundatn for Equal Rights and the Human Rights Campaign, said was mon for lawmakers to tell him, "You know privately I’m wh you, and you know so-and-so my fay is gay or lbian, but polilly, I n’t be out there.

He had ma some chang, such as elimatg the “don't ask, don't tell” le that prevented gay people om servg openly the ary, but had stopped short of embracg marriage equaly spe lawsus that were forcg the issue to the foreont.

In 1996, he had voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented feral regnn of same-sex April 2012, Bin attend the fundraiser at the Los Angel home of a married gay uple — Michael Lombardo, an HBO executive, and Sonny Ward, an archect — and their children.

"Jt over two weeks later, Bin was on NBC's “Meet the Prs, ” and host David Gregory asked whether he supported gay marriage. “And that's what people are fdg out is what all marriag, at their root, are about, whether they're marriag of lbians, or gay men, or heterosexuals.

” But he said gay upl should have “all the civil rights, all the civil liberti.

Obama was left trailg a step behd his vice print, and three days later did an terview to disclose his own support for gay marriage. The Supreme Court soon legalized gay marriage natnwi a cisn known as Obergefell v.

Five people were shot to ath at a gay club Colorado last month. Transportatn Secretary Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay Cabet member, and Bin's assistant health secretary, Rachel Leve, is the first transgenr person to w Senate nfirmatn to an executive McBri, a transgenr state senator om Bin's home state of Delaware, said ’s a fort “for so many of , who feel ightened or vulnerable or alone, to know that the lear of this untry, the lear of the ee world, not only se but embrac . "McBri worked for Bin's elst son, Be, durg his mpaigns for Delaware attorney general, and she me out as transgenr Be Bin died om bra ncer 2015, he helped pass Delaware laws that legalized gay marriage and banned discrimatn over genr inty.

Several GOP senators have also lled the 2015 Supreme Court cisn legalizg gay marriage “wrongly” cid. Last month, Gallup found that a rerd high of 71% of Amerins support , cludg a majory of are the nam of every Republin reprentative who opposed feral protectns for gay marriage:Robert Arholt (Ala.