Sanrs: Hillary's wrong on gay marriage law - POLITICO

Contents:

• HOW BERNIE SANRS EVOLVED ON GAY MARRIAGE
• SANRS: I WAS AHEAD OF THE CURVE ON GAY RIGHTS
• BERNIE SANRS WAS S AHEAD OF THE UNTRY ON GAY RIGHTS AND ENDG THE WAR ON DGS
• AS GAY RIGHTS ALLY, BERNIE SANRS WASN’T ALWAYS VANGUARD
• THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985
• SANRS IS NO NEWBIE TO SUPPORTG GAY MARRIAGE
• THIS CLIP OF BERNIE SANRS DOWNPLAYG THREATS TO GAY MARRIAGE AND ABORTN HASN’T AGED WELL
• CALIFORNIA VOTERS WILL BE ASKED TO REAFFIRM GAY MARRIAGE PROTECTNS ON 2024 BALLOT
• MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE

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.

SANRS: I WAS AHEAD OF THE CURVE ON GAY RIGHTS

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

Sanrs was "a pneer on this early versn of gay marriage and has by far the most exemplary rerd on gay rights of any ndidate ever Amerin history, " Briggs said an terview wh The Washgton 's not que right. “Sanrs also supported Vermont’s civil unns law 2000, and he was an outspoken proponent of gay marriage before the Legislature his home state 2009 passed one of the natn’s first same-sex marriage laws. ”Several rears asked to look to the statements light of a fascatg article Time magaze tled “How Bernie Sanrs evolved on Gay Marriage.

” The article documented how while Sanrs may have opposed DOMA, he did more for narrow, legalistic issu — and how he was also late to support gay marriage his own ’ve examed his rerd.

Can his mpaign back up s claim that he was an “outspoken proponent of gay marriage” before Vermont’s legislature passed — over the ernor’s veto — one of the first same-sex marriage laws? His mpaign supplied a long list of posns over time, datg back to 1972, backg gay and lbian vote on DOMA was a relatively lonely one, as he was jt one of 67 Hoe members to vote agast . ) Given that then Print Bill Clton (D) had said he would sign the law, would have been far easier, polilly, to vote for on gay marriage, Sanrs appears to have held off explic support until the Vermont legislature was poised to pass , tratg gay only document his mpaign uld provi showg Sanrs’ support for gay marriage was an article that appeared on July 11, 2009, the Valley News of Wt Lebanon, N.

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

The article was mostly about the reversal by Vermont’s other senator, Patrick Leahy (D), on DOMA, but also noted that Sanrs had “prevly voiced support for gay marriage laws passed this sprg” Vermont and New Fact Checker ntacted the thor of the article, John P. We n fd no evince of “outspoken” support before the law was passed — a procs that started 2007 — eher news clips or his Senate office prs statements mataed on the WayBack, a noted Vermont polil wrer, the late Peter Freyne, wrote 2000 that Sanrs served the “Wishy-Washy Award hands down” for his “refully crafted non-statement statement” on whether the Vermont legislature should craft a law that permted civil unns for homosexuals.

“Obtag Congrsman Bernie Sanrs’ posn on the gay marriage issue was like pullg teeth…om a rhoceros, ” Freyne said after the Vermont Supreme Court urged the Vermont legislature to draft a law. ”In 2006, when Sanrs first ran for the Senate, he said that the state was not ready for gay marriage, given the fact that the civil-unn law had ed so much polil ntroversy after was approved.

In an Associated Prs article about Sanrs’ opposn to a nstutnal amendment prohibg gay marriage, he was asked whether Vermont should legalize full marriage rights for same-sex upl.

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

26 terview wh MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Sanrs acknowledged he urged a go-slow approach on gay marriage: “There were anti-civil unn monstratns. ”In an terview wh NBC News, Evan Wolfson, the founr and print of pro-gay-marriage group Freedom to Marry, said that Sanrs has exaggerated his rerd on gay marriage.

We n fd ltle evince he was an “outspoken proponent” of or ahead of the crowd on eher Vermont’s 2000 civil-unn law or the 2009 gay-marriage law, though we would wele more evince ncerng his ntemporaneo statements and n adjt this ratg if more PocchsSend facts to check by fillg out this formFollow The Fact Checker on Twter and iend on Facebook. LGBTQ Valu Are Fay Valu: Bernie supported gay marriage long before was polilly expedient to do so, and also supports gay adoptn.

SANRS IS NO NEWBIE TO SUPPORTG GAY MARRIAGE

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, allowed gays and lbians to serve the ary only if they stayed the closet and weren’t open about their sexual orientatn. In 1996, Bernie voted agast the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) law, which fed marriage as between one man and one woman, and nied feral benefs to gay spo. The discrimatory legacy of DOMA ntued until 2015, when the sectn of DOMA that allowed stat to ban gay marriage was led unnstnal and same-sex marriage was legalized.

Bernie mend Print Barack Obama July of 2014 after he issued an executive orr prohibg discrimatn agast gay and transgenr feral employe sayg:. Bernie also voted for the Employment Non-Discrimatn Act of 2013, which prohibs workplace discrimatn agast gay, bisexual and transgenr Amerins. In 1995, while the DADT policy was place, Bernie angrily chastised a Republin Congrsman who referred to “homos the ary” as a problem.

THIS CLIP OF BERNIE SANRS DOWNPLAYG THREATS TO GAY MARRIAGE AND ABORTN HASN’T AGED WELL

“As somebody who has nsistently voted to end discrimatn all forms — who voted agast DOMA way back the 1990s — I will do all that I n to ntue our efforts to make this a nondiscrimatory society, whether those beg discrimated agast are transgenr, gay, black or Hispanic. Bernie Sanrs has been attackg Hillary Clton for her stance on gay marriage and amg himself as a longstandg advote for gay rights, but Sanrs' support has not always been so Saturday, Sanrs acced her of seekg to “rewre” history by explag her support of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act as a “fensive” mechanism meant to protect agast a Constutnal amendment on marriage. ”Evan Wolfson, the founr and print of pro-gay-marriage group Freedom to Marry, said Sanrs “serv applse” for that vote, as he was one of jt a few dozen lawmakers to oppose the bipartisan bill.

“Senator Sanrs, at pots, has implied that he has been a strong and nsistent supporter of the eedom to marry — but at ccial junctur, at least publicly, he was not, ” Wolfson reports om the early 2000s reveal a senator reluctant to embrace gay marriage even when his own relatively liberal state was gog through s own bate on the issue.

Sanrs issued a statement “appldg” the Vermont Supreme Court for lg that gay upl should be afford the benefs of marriage — but not explicly the right to marry — the urt sent the issue to the legislature to ci, and there Sanrs ially refed to take a a well-rpected lumnist for the Vermont pennt newsweekly Seven Days wrote 2000, ssg out Sanrs’ stance on gay marriage at the time was like “pullg teeth…om a rhocero. Other Democrats the state, cludg the two ndidat for Senate and Sanrs’ succsor as Mayor of Burlgton, spoke out favor of gay marriage. ”After the legislature passed a civil unns bill, Sanrs exprsed support for that, but he stopped short of phg for gay marriage to be years later, when the Gee W.

CALIFORNIA VOTERS WILL BE ASKED TO REAFFIRM GAY MARRIAGE PROTECTNS ON 2024 BALLOT

Senate bate that year as nsirg a stat’ rights issue — a stance that ns stark ntrast to his proclamatn to the Tim that he “was there” when to gay rights. “I believe the feral ernment should not be volved overturng Massachetts or any other state bee I thk the whole issue of marriage is a state issue, ” he said durg the refal to back gay marriage durg his Senate n drew him a rebe om MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow durg an terview Monday night.

Sanrs did e out favor of gay marriage 2009, about four years before Clton exprsed support, but both statements me at polilly-nvenient tim — Clton’s, after most of the Democratic tablishment had exprsed their support; Sanrs’, after the Vermont legislature voted to legalize gay ’s a checkered history that, Wolfson says, should at the very least renr the back-and-forth over who was first on the issue a moot pot.

“That was an anti-gay marriage piece of legislatn, ” he add of the law that fed marriage at the feral level as the uplg of one man and one woman.

MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE

“Bee of the cency of the Amerin people, bee of the strength of the gay rights movement, we have changed nscns this untry, ” Sanrs add. ”) At the time, he also opposed a feral anti-gay-marriage amendment—but so did his Republin opponent for the Senate seat, Richard Tarrant, who also supported civil unns.