Bernie Sanrs stood up for gay soldiers — 16 years before "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" end - Vox

Contents:

• HOW BERNIE SANRS EVOLVED ON GAY MARRIAGE
• AS GAY RIGHTS ALLY, BERNIE SANRS WASN’T ALWAYS VANGUARD
• BERNIE SANRS WAS S AHEAD OF THE UNTRY ON GAY RIGHTS AND ENDG THE WAR ON DGS
• BERNIE SANRS STOOD UP FOR GAY SOLDIERS — 16 YEARS BEFORE "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" END
• BERNIE SANRS BLASTS CLTON RERD ON GAY RIGHTS, KEYSTONE, FREE TRA
• BERNIE SANRS PRINTIAL MPAIGN, 2016/GAY RIGHTS

HOW BERNIE SANRS EVOLVED ON GAY MARRIAGE

Wh Clton wag nearby, Sanrs blamed her for supportg the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which barred feral regnn of gay marriage, argug that she is now misleadg the public about her past views when she says that she only supported the law to prevent a nstutnal amendment. “Today, some are tryg to rewre history by sayg they voted for one anti-gay law to stop somethg worse, ” Sanrs told a group of top Democratic anizers, whout sayg Clton’s name.

AS GAY RIGHTS ALLY, BERNIE SANRS WASN’T ALWAYS VANGUARD

When Sanrs was asked on Sunday about his vote agast the Defense of Marriage Act on CNN, he said that he believed back 1996 that gay upl had the right to gay marriage.

” In 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court led that the state had to guarantee protectns and benefs to gay upl, a stop short of legalizg gay marriage. Many proment Democrats, cludg Sanrs’ succsor as mayor of Burlgton and a gubernatorial nomee, spoke out favor of gay marriage, but Sanrs kept mum. Peter Freyne, a lolly beloved Vermont wrer and opn wrer whom Sanrs later ld as “the bt polil reporter the state of Vermont, ” acced the then-Congrsman of obftg on his gay rights posn.

BERNIE SANRS WAS S AHEAD OF THE UNTRY ON GAY RIGHTS AND ENDG THE WAR ON DGS

Freyne scribed repeated attempts to hear Sanrs’ views on gay marriage, and the ngrsman only said he “supports the current procs” the state legislature.

That same year, Sanrs was asked a bate durg his first n for the Senate about a Massachetts state urt cisn that legalized gay marriage.

He rpond by talkg about stat’ rights, which is an argument often ed by policians who have argued agast feral regnn of gay marriage as well. “Was the gentleman referrg to the many thoands and thoands of gay people who have put their liv on the le untls wars fendg this untry?

BERNIE SANRS STOOD UP FOR GAY SOLDIERS — 16 YEARS BEFORE "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" END

— As Senator Bernie Sanrs tri to distguish himself om Hillary Rodham Clton and rally his progrsive base, one issue where he has claimed a clear advantage is the long battle over gay Sanrs has highlighted his opposn to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which nied feral regnn to same-sex marriag, sayg he thought upl should be able to “get married regardls of their sexual orientatn. ” In a recent terview, he said that “whout tootg my own horn, ” his opposn to the act, which was signed by Print Bill Clton, “means that somebody has got to take learship, ” and he told Gail Colls, a lumnist for The New York Tim: “I’m not evolvg when to gay rights.

BERNIE SANRS BLASTS CLTON RERD ON GAY RIGHTS, KEYSTONE, FREE TRA

”But on his home turf Vermont, the first state to regnize civil unns and a trailblazer same-sex marriage rights, gay rights advot say Mr. Sanrs was ls than a lear, and not entirely prent, on the Sanrs, who first publicly endorsed gay marriage 2009, exprsed varyg levels of support for gay rights as he rose om the mayor of liberal Burlgton to a ngrsman and then a senator wh statewi support among more socially nservative nstuenci such as hunters, blue-llar workers and olr Sanrs’s modulatn on the issue, those who have watched his reer say, is a reflectn of both his sgle-md foc on enomic equaly and his ftns as a polician, a si of him that ns unter to his reputatn for iologil pury and unpromisg his explanatn for the vote that he holds up as evince of his forward thkg has evolved.

BERNIE SANRS PRINTIAL MPAIGN, 2016/GAY RIGHTS

“In the early years, Bernie was not an outspoken advote on the issu to the gree he is now, ” said Keh Goslant, a proment gay rights activist Sanrs first me across gay people as a young boy growg up a Brooklyn buildg where the supertennt was a stocky Argente who lived a first-floor apartment wh an eccentric Broadway Goldman/Associated Prs“Clearly the gayt uple the history of the world, ” Mr. ”By the time he beme mayor of Burlgton 1981, after years as a socialist active radil leftist polics, he had bee a reliable ally to gay activists.

Sanrs approved a rolutn proclaimg June 25 to be Gay Pri Day, wrg, “In a ee society we mt all be mted to the mutual rpect of each others liftyl. ”In 1985, he ma another proclamatn and sent his good tidgs to anizers of a gay pri para, potg out that an ordance Burlgton had passed prohibg discrimatn hog would benef “the gay muny as well. Sanrs had told him that he might not be the lead sponsor of bills they advoted, but that he would sign state legislators who were promotg gay rights issu at the time were more cril.

Sanrs spoke out agast the Clton admistratn’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which ntued the ary’s ban on gay men and lbians but let them serve if they kept their sexual orientatn secret. Was the gentleman referrg to the many thoands and thoands of gay people who have put their liv on the le untls wars fendg this untry? Om a rhoceros, ” wrote the Vermont publitn Seven posn mattered to advot of gay marriage bee the urt required the state legislature to act on s cisn, and the support, or silence, of Mr.