Bernie Sanrs is cricizg Hillary Clton over her rerd on gay marriage, but his own story is more plited than he portrays .
Contents:
- HOW BERNIE SANRS EVOLVED ON GAY MARRIAGE
- BERNIE SANRS STOOD UP FOR GAY SOLDIERS — 16 YEARS BEFORE "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" END
- BERNIE SANRS WAS S AHEAD OF THE UNTRY ON GAY RIGHTS AND ENDG THE WAR ON DGS
HOW BERNIE SANRS EVOLVED ON GAY MARRIAGE
At a marquee event on Saturday one hundred days before the Iowa uc, Bernie Sanrs went after Hillary Clton’s rerd on gay rights. 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. There was a small mory opposed to discrimatg agast our gay brothers and sisters, and I am proud that I was one of those members! By all measur, Sanrs was ahead of his time supportg gay rights.
BERNIE SANRS STOOD UP FOR GAY SOLDIERS — 16 YEARS BEFORE "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" END
In 1983, as mayor of Burlgton, he signed a Gay Pri Day proclamatn llg a civil rights issue. “I’m not evolvg when to gay rights.
But his rerd on gay marriage is more plited than he now mak sound. While Sanrs generally opposed measur to ban gay marriage, he did not speak out favor of until 2009. In addn, his reasong for opposg efforts to rtrict gay marriage was much narrower and legalistic than he now mak seem.
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.
BERNIE SANRS WAS S AHEAD OF THE UNTRY ON GAY RIGHTS AND ENDG THE WAR ON DGS
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. “Obtag Congrsman Bernie Sanrs’ posn on the gay marriage issue was like pullg teeth … om a rhoceros, ” Freyne wrote.