How Bernie Sanders Evolved on Gay Marriage

[portlander23]

How Bernie Sanders Evolved on Gay Marriage
Sam Frizzle
Time

By all measures, Sanders was ahead of his time in supporting gay rights. In 1983, as mayor of Burlington, he signed a Gay Pride Day proclamation calling it a civil rights issue. He was one of just 67 members in the House of Representatives to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act, a politically tough decision he prides himself on and points to as a key progressive bona fide. Sanders opposed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in 1993, another President Bill Clinton-era policy, and supported civil unions in Vermont in 2000.

But his record on gay marriage is more complicated than he now makes it sound. While Sanders generally opposed measures to ban gay marriage, he did not speak out in favor of it until 2009. That’s still well ahead of Clinton, who released a YouTube video announcing her support in 2013, as well as most other Democratic Senators, but not as early as he’s now casting it.

In 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that the state had to guarantee protections and benefits to gay couples, a stop short of legalizing gay marriage. Sanders approved of the decision.

But the court also said that the Vermont legislature should decide the issue. Many prominent Democrats, including Sanders’ successor as mayor of Burlington and a gubernatorial nominee, spoke out in favor of gay marriage, but Sanders kept mum.

In 2006, when the Bush White House proposed an amendment to the Constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman, Sanders spoke out against the Republican plan, saying it was “designed to divide the American people.”

But when Sanders was asked by a reporter whether Vermont should legalize same-sex marriage, he said no. “Not right now, not after what we went through,” he said.

It wasn’t until 2009 that Sanders publicly voiced support for gay marriage, years after many of his contemporaries in Vermont. The state legislature voted to legalize gay marriage that March and overrode a gubernatorial veto to pass it into law in April. It’s unclear when exactly Sanders took his position. When asked, his campaign provided a news article from July of that year which noted that he had “previously supported” it.

But a Sanders’ campaign spokesman, Michael Briggs, stressed that he has a “long and consistent record on gay rights.” He pointed to a YouTube video showing Sanders taking a fellow member of Congress to task over Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in 1995.

Related:

Clinton’s claim that DOMA had to be enacted to stop an anti-gay marriage amendment

Thom Hartmann: Clinton lied to Rachel Maddow on DOMA and played "poor me victim" on "shouting"

Steve Kornacki: Why Bill Clinton really signed DOMA

The Advocate: Bernie Sanders Doesn't Share Hillary Clinton's Memory of How DOMA Passed

The Advocate: President Hillary Clinton would compromise on civil rights if necessary

"Some are trying to rewrite history" on Defense of Marriage Act

Clinton: ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ and DOMA Were ‘Defensive Actions’ To Stop Anti-LGBT Conservatives

[LostOne4Ever]

1. There is no evolution there

[font style="font-family:'georgia','Baskerville Old Face','Helvetica',fantasy;" size=4 color=purple]Just a long record of doing what is most expedient at the time to promote civil rights for LGBTQ Americans.

Post a video of him saying that marriage should only be between a man & woman if you want to claim otherwise.

Till then, the claim is just historical revisionism...which I find extremely offensive as it attempts to tarnish the rep of a LONG TIME advocate for the LGBTQ community. Those promoting this nonsense should be ashamed of yourselves.[/font]

[portlander23]

2. I think Bernie's record is solid