2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumBernie Sanders Was No 'Pioneer' On Same-Sex Marriage
By Jennifer Bendery
1/20/16
Concern for states' rights, not LGBT rights, guided his votes on marriage equality.
WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has a case of sour grapes over the decision by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT rights group, to endorse his opponent, Hillary Clinton. He says he doesn't need their stinking support, and he's got a strong record on gay rights anyway. He does.
But his spokesman Michael Briggs made the case Tuesday that Sanders has been way ahead of Clinton -- and pretty much everyone -- in advocating same-sex marriage. He pointed to the senator's support for civil unions in his home state of Vermont back in 2000. Those gave couples some of the same legal protections as marriage, but they didn't provide federal benefits and weren't recognized by other states.
Sanders was "a pioneer on this early version of gay marriage and has by far the most exemplary record on gay rights of any candidate ever in American history," Briggs said in an interview with The Washington Blade.
That's not quite right.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-gay-marriage_us_569fcc4de4b0a7026bf9e06f
"To be sure, if this is a contest between who came around on marriage equality first, Sanders wins. He backed it four years before Clinton did in 2013. And she's hit bumps along the way, between struggling to call DOMA a mistake (her husband signed it into law, so that's awkward) and her uncomfortable interview in 2014 with NPR's Terry Gross, where she dodged questions about her evolution on the issue. She did, however, do a number of things to help LGBT people during her time as secretary of state."
morningfog
(18,115 posts)Beacool
(30,251 posts)The whole point is that he didn't pioneer the cause and that he should be a bit more graceful when his opponent was endorsed by PP and HRC.
He's a politician, he's not the Saint of Liberalism. It's getting tiresome the attitude of some here that this man can do no wrong and everything he speaks is infallible.
kenfrequed
(7,865 posts)It is called a primary.
And I would rather pick the candidate that figured this stuff out early (you know like the Iraq War) than go with someone that has to issue unending mea culpa and position modifications later.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)He was fearful enough in calling out event endorsements for what yet are. Political machinations by the political leaders of groups, regardless of where their members and donors land.
Bernie's record is better than Hillary's when it comes to LGBT rights. Hillary held bigoted positions while opposed bigots like her.
Jeebus H. Christ.
virtualobserver
(8,760 posts)She usually gets there eventually , though.....unlike the Republicans
Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)From the early 1970's. "Abolish all laws dealing with abortion, drugs, sexual behavior ( adultery, homosexuality etc.)"
What part of "All Laws" do you not comprehend?
Dretownblues
(253 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I mean, really worried.
Beacool
(30,251 posts)Just pointing out that he was not the one who spearheaded gay marriage and shouldn't be offended if HRC chose to endorse Hillary instead of him.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)riversedge
(70,302 posts)kath
(10,565 posts)Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)From here, your post looks like yet another dishonest post from a Clinton supporter.
Hillary was, is and always will be in the bottom 47% Of All Americans (not just politicians) when it came to marriage equality.
Bernie is on record wanting to eliminate All Laws Regarding Homosexuality since the early 70's.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)snoringvoter
(178 posts)The organization, not the candidate.
riversedge
(70,302 posts)I can type nonsense and distortions just like you.
Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)More importantly, Hillary didn't flip on this issue until a clear majority of Americans were on record as supporting marriage equality.
Hillary was, is and always will be in the bottom 47% of All Americans on this topic. Not just law makers, or people in politics. You need to include all the crazy gay hating RWers in that number. On this issue, she is closer to them than she is to Bernie.
Terrible candidate. Just terrible.
Beacool
(30,251 posts)I don't think anyone running for president on the Democratic side was ever anti-gay.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)She opposed marriage equality.
Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)The last sentence of the paragraph numbered 3. Top right portion of the letter.
How can laws not allowing same sex marriage not be considered something "dealing with homosexuality". He wanted actual equality 40 years ago. We are not even there yet because people can still be fired from their jobs for being gay.
I suppose that if Hillary was running against him then, she would say that her being against that was just being pragmatic.
snoringvoter
(178 posts)Beacool
(30,251 posts)Most of them were not about marriage.
Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)True equality. 40+ years ago.
Not Pragmatic. Not Pragmatic at all.
kath
(10,565 posts)sexual behavior ( adultery, homosexuality etc.)"
Who the hell else was saying something that bold back in the early '70s?!?
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)that defined marriage as opposite sex only.
Oh no wait. That was the other candidate, what's her name, the one that was the front runner until her campaign self-imploded in a bizarre barrage of smears disinformation and downright ugliness directed at her only significant opponent.
Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)I guess that is what happens when you are not pragmatic enough.
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)Bernie never went on a crusade against marriage equality because of bigoted religious beliefs, Hillary did:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/03/18/how-hillary-clinton-evolved-on-gay-marriage/
In fact she didn't evolve until 2013 - long after the rest of the country but you go with condemning Bernie who voted against DOMA in 1994.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)earthside
(6,960 posts)... or caved-in to the Washington, D.C. establishment insiders who want to schmooze and rub shoulders with the Clinton elitists.
Bernie Sanders was decades ahead of the country on gay rights and ending the war on drugs
Vox - July 7, 2015
"Abolish all laws dealing with abortion, drugs, sexual behavior ( adultery, homosexuality etc.)"
Bernie Sander 1972
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)More articles on Bernie:
But these are only very recent developments. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton may be champions of same-sex marriage now, but you dont have to go far back to find a time when they werent. And hey, were happy to have their evolved support.
Not only did Sanders vote against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 which defined marriage as between one man and one woman, signed into law by then-president Bill Clinton an unpopular position then a look back at Sanders political career shows consistent support of the gay rights movement. Even when it was more than just unpopular, it was downright controversial.
In our democratic society, it is the responsibility of government to safeguard civil liberties and civil rights especially the freedom of speech and expression, Sanders wrote later in a memo. In a free society, we must all be committed to the mutual respect of each others lifestyle.
...
It is my very strong view that a society which proclaims human freedom as its goal, as the United States does, must work unceasingly to end discrimination against all people. I am happy to say that this past year, in Burlington, we have made some important progress by adopting an ordinance which prohibits discrimination in housing. This law will give legal protection not only to welfare recipients, and families with children, the elderly and the handicapped but to the gay community as well.
http://www.queerty.com/32-years-before-marriage-equality-bernie-sanders-fought-for-gay-rights-20150719
Of course, Clinton has since evolved on LGBT rights, as many have. That's wonderful. But the problem is, she only came out in support of marriage equality after it was not politically risky to do so. In fact, by 2013 - the year Clinton announced her full support for marriage equality - Democratic support for same-sex marriage was the norm, not the exception.
On such an important moral issue that affects my life and the lives of thousands of other Americans, making decisions in this manner is rather despicable. Additionally, Clinton's habit of doing what polls deem politically popular is the reason why so many voters find her inauthentic. Now, if Clinton were the only option for the Democratic presidential nomination, I would understand why we should support her despite these flaws.
But she isn't the only option.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the longest-serving Independent in the history of Congress, is also running for the nomination. And unlike Clinton, his record on LGBT rights is historically excellent.
Sanders voted against DOMA, one of the few members of Congress to do so, at a time when such a stance was not politically popular. Four years after DOMA passed, Sanders helped champion Vermont's decision in 2000 to become the first state to legalize same-sex civil unions. This set a national precedent for LGBT equality achieved via legislative means. In 2009, when Vermont became the first state to allow marriage equality through legislative action rather than a court ruling, Sanders expressed his support once again. Truly, Sanders has been a real leader on LGBT rights, even if this leadership isn't recognized in the way that Clinton's current support is.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-novak/on-lgbt-rights-bernie-lea_b_7662682.html
Todays Supreme Court decision was a monumental moment in American history, as it guaranteed the right for gays and lesbians to get married and established full marriage equality.
Many politicians offered their words of support, including President Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Yet it is important to remember that Obama and Clinton both opposed marriage equality as late as early 2012. It is a testament to the work of thousands of activists over decades that the political class was pulled towards supporting equality.
There is however one prominent politician who did not wait so long to call for full gay equality: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
In a letter he published in the early 1970s, when he was a candidate for governor of Vermont from the Liberty Union Party, Sanders invoked freedom to call for the abolition of all laws related to homosexuality:
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/bernie-sanders-was-full-gay-equality-40-years-ago
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Saturday he has been waiting for the nation to catch up to his support for same-sex marriage.
Sanders remarks come a day after Fridays landmark 5-4 Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.
He argued he was well ahead of the historic decision, unlike Hillary Clinton, his main rival for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
...
Sanders at the time served in the House of Representatives, which voted 342-67 in favor of DOMA. The Senate voted 85-14 in favor, before former President Bill Clinton signed it into law.
That was an anti-gay marriage piece of legislation, he added of the law that defined marriage at the federal level as the coupling of one man and one woman.
Sanders on Saturday praised Americans for creating greater opportunities for same-sex couples. Fridays Supreme Court ruling, he charged, was not possible without national pressure for gay rights.
No one here should think for one second this starts with the Supreme Court, Sanders said.
It starts at the grassroots level in all 50 states, he said. The American people want to end discrimination in all its forms.
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/246370-sanders-i-was-ahead-of-the-curve-on-gay-rights
Most Americans now support legally allowing gay and lesbian relationships, same-sex marriage, and personal marijuana use after decades of shifting public opinion. But one Democratic candidate for president, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, was calling for many of these changes decades ago.
In a 1972 letter to a local newspaper which was recently resurfaced by Chelsea Summers at the New Republic Sanders wrote that he supported abolishing "all laws dealing with abortion, drugs, sexual behavior (adultery, homosexuality, etc.)" as part of his campaign for Vermont governor:
These stances were far removed from public opinion at the time, according to Gallup surveys on marijuana and gay and lesbian rights. In 1972, 81 percent of Americans said marijuana should be illegal which suggests even more would favor the prohibition of more dangerous drugs like cocaine and heroin. In 1977, the earliest year of polling data, 43 percent of Americans said gay and lesbian relations between consenting adults should not be legal, while 43 percent said they should be legal.
...
But it took decades for the American public to come around to majority support on these issues: It wasn't until 2013 that a majority of Americans supported marijuana legalization, the early 2000s that most consistently responded in favor of legal gay and lesbian relations, and 2011 that a majority first reported backing same-sex marriage rights.
Sanders has carried many of these positions to this day. He was one of the few federal lawmakers to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal ban on same-sex marriages, in the 1990s. And while he told Time's Jay Newton-Small in March that he has no current stance on marijuana legalization (but backs medical marijuana), he characterized the war on drugs as costly and destructive.
http://www.vox.com/2015/7/7/8905905/sanders-drugs-gay-rights
Now that he's officially announced he will seek the Democratic nomination for president and challenge Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will be talking about his positions on major issues on the campaign trail, and one very big issue he has championed for years is gay marriage. Sanders, unlike some of his potential Republican opponents, seems like he would not turn down an invitation to a gay wedding (and he might actually get invited to one).
In 1996, then-Representative Sanders voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred recognition of gay marriage at the federal level (DOMA was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2013). Sanders' and his home state of Vermont were the first to legalize same-sex unions in 2000, at first recognizing them as civil unions. Gay marriage has been legal in Vermont since 2009, and as The New York Times reported, Vermont was the first state to pass legislation in support of same-sex marriage, rather than in reaction to a court ruling.
On Tuesday, as the Supreme Court took up the issue of gay marriage, Sanders issued a statement on his website reaffirming his support, saying gay Americans in every state should be allowed to marry.
Of course all citizens deserve equal rights. Its time for the Supreme Court to catch up to the American people and legalize gay marriage.
http://www.bustle.com/articles/79951-bernie-sanders-views-on-gay-marriage-show-hes-been-a-supporter-for-a-long-time
Bernie Sanders, the longest-serving independent member of Congress, is officially seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2016, the Vermont senator announced in an email to supporters this morning.
"People should not underestimate me," Sanders told the Associated Press in an interview that broke the news of his candidacy Wednesday night. "I've run outside of the two-party system, defeating Democrats and Republicans, taking on big-money candidates and, you know, I think the message that has resonated in Vermont is a message that can resonate all over this country."
The self-described "Democratic socialist" wants to challenge the business-as-usual trend of big money in politics that he says dominates the current candidates including Hillary Clinton.
The thrust of Sanders's campaign thus far like his political career as the mayor of Burlington, Vt., 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the past seven in the U.S. Senate has focused on supporting working-class Americans through elevated taxes on the wealthy and correcting income inequality "which is now reaching obscene levels," he told the AP.
But Sanders has also been a steadfast and reliable supporter of LGBT equality, supporting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act when it passed the Senate in 2013 and even calling on President Obama to evolve already and support marriage equality in 2011. He's a cosponsor of the federal LGBT-inclusive Student Non-Discrimination Act and has consistently voted against bills seeking to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, while cosponsoring a bill that would repeal the remaining portions of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. Sanders has a perfect score of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign's latest Congressional Equality Index.
http://www.advocate.com/politics/election/2015/04/30/bernie-sanders-most-lgbt-friendly-candidate
Punkingal
(9,522 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Better throttle back or the turbine blades will fly apart under the excessive forces acting upon them.
snoringvoter
(178 posts)Let it run through. It's what Clinton would do.
NorthCarolina
(11,197 posts)as opposed to silly attacks all the time. If the centrist corporate approach to governing is superior, then convince the voters of it by giving tangible and FACTUAL comparisons.
Avalux
(35,015 posts)kath
(10,565 posts)Armstead
(47,803 posts)He used the "states rights" argument against DOMA. But his goal was to defeat a bad anti LGBT bill on constitutional grounds. Was it totally upfront in his explanation? No. Was his goal to block an anti-gay marriage bill? Yes.
Unfortunately, the Clintons and majority of Democrats caved (or believed in) the anti-gay family-values crowd to support DOMA. The Democrats still said marriage is between "a man and a woman."