Bernie Sanrs: Gay Marriage Rerd Not as Simple As He Says | Time

Contents:

• HOW BERNIE SANRS EVOLVED ON GAY MARRIAGE
• BERNIE SANRS WAS S AHEAD OF THE UNTRY ON GAY RIGHTS AND ENDG THE WAR ON DGS
• BERNIE SANRS BLASTS CLTON RERD ON GAY RIGHTS, KEYSTONE, FREE TRA
• BERNIE SANRS AS GAY PRI GRAND MARSHAL FOR HIS RERD OF SUPPORT SCE 1972 REPRENTG LGBTQ...
• AS GAY RIGHTS ALLY, BERNIE SANRS WASN’T ALWAYS VANGUARD
• BERNIE SANRS STOOD UP FOR GAY SOLDIERS — 16 YEARS BEFORE "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" END

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.

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

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

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?

Most Amerins now support legally allowg gay and lbian relatnships, same-sex marriage, and personal marijuana e after s of shiftg public opn.

In a 1972 letter to a lol newspaper — which was recently rurfaced by Chelsea Summers at the New Republic — Sanrs wrote that he supported abolishg "all laws alg wh abortn, dgs, sexual behavr (adultery, homosexualy, etc. In 1977, the earlit year of pollg data, 43 percent of Amerins said gay and lbian relatns between nsentg adults should not be legal, while 43 percent said they should be legal. In 2015, 69 percent said gay and lbian relatnships between nsentg adults should be legal, and 60 percent backed marriage equaly.

BERNIE SANRS AS GAY PRI GRAND MARSHAL FOR HIS RERD OF SUPPORT SCE 1972 REPRENTG LGBTQ...

But took s for the Amerin public to e around to majory support on the issu: It wasn't until 2013 that a majory of Amerins supported marijuana legalizatn, the early 2000s that most nsistently rpond favor of legal gay and lbian relatns, and 2011 that a majory first reported backg same-sex marriage rights.

click to enlarge Bernard Sanrs Papers, Special Collectns, Universy of Vermont Library A 1983 Burlgton Free Prs story on Burlgton's first gay pri march. His 1996 vote agast the Defense of Marriage Act, which fed marriage as "a legal unn between one man and one woman" and allowed stat to refe to regnize gay marriag performed elsewhere. When gay rights anizers planned Burlgton's first-ever pri para June 1983 — two years after Sanrs was elected mayor of the Queen Cy — they lled on the Board of Alrmen to signate June 25 Lbian and Gay Pri Day.

"This human rights issue is of great importance to our muny, " the Organizg Commtee of the Lbian and Gay Pri Celebratn wrote a June 6 letter to the board.

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

After que some bate at a June 13 meetg, the board voted six to five favor of signatg the date of the march Lbian and Gay Pri Day, acrdg to a ntemporaneo story om the Burlgton Free Prs. click to enlarge Bernard Sanrs Papers, Special Collectns, Universy of Vermont Library A 1984 story on Burlgton's send gay pri march.

The next year, the Board of Alrmen passed a rolutn urgg all levels of ernment to support gay rights, acrdg to a letter the archiv om the Organizg Commtee for Lbian and Gay Pri Celebratn, which ved Sanrs to speak at s 1984 rally. This law will give legal protectn not only to welfare recipients, and fai wh children, the elrly and the handipped — but to the gay muny as well.

"I thank you scerely for your endorsement of Lbian and Gay Pri Day Burlgton, " Milton's Bob Skiba wrote Sanrs a letter dated June 22, 1983. Reached Tuday at his home Philalphia, Skiba said he did not remember wrg the letter, but he remembers the "fear and trepidatn" he and other gay Vermonters felt ahead of the 1983 march. "Amazgly, I lived Milton and I knew at least a dozen other gay people who lived there who were known the town and tolerated, " Skiba relled.

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

Though Burlgton was more progrsive than the rt of the state, Skiba said, "It was the begng of the AIDS epimic, so there was real anim toward gay people. What we found was long-standg support for gay rights general, a votg rerd nsistent wh same-sex marriage, but not much the way of public statements on behalf of same-sex marriage self.

While you uld read Sanrs’ sweepg reference to all laws alg wh homosexualy as cludg same-sex marriage, don’t specifilly say that. As mayor of Burlgton, Vt., Sanrs supported a gay pri para 1983, sayg "we mt all be mted to the mutual rpect of each other’s liftyle.