Elected Officials Who Support Marriage Equality ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO SUPPORT MARRIAGE EQUALITY
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Elected Officials Who Support Marriage Equality ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO SUPPORT MARRIAGE EQUALITY Former President Bill Clinton This spring, same-sex marriage was legalized in Iowa, Vermont, Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire. In his most recent remarks on the subject, Clinton said, ‚I think all these states that do it, should do it.‛ Asked if he personally supported same-sex marriage, Clinton replied, ‚Yeah. I personally support people doing what they want to do,‛ Clinton said. ‚I think it's wrong for someone to stop someone else from doing that [same-sex marriage].‛i Upon the introduction of the Respect for Marriage Act, former President Clinton released a statement praising its sponsors and stating, ‚Throughout my life I have opposed discrimination of any kind. When the Defense of Marriage Act was passed, gay couples could not marry anywhere in the United States or the world for that matter. Thirteen years later, the fabric of our country has changed, and so should this policy.‛ii Former Vice President Al Gore ‚Gay men and women ought to have the same rights as heterosexual men and women—to make contracts, to have hospital visiting rights, to join together in marriage, and I don’t understand why it is considered by some people to be a threat to heterosexual marriage,‛ he said on a video blog that appeared on his Current TV network. ‚Shouldn't we be promoting the kind of faithfulness and loyalty to ones partner regardless of sexual orientation?‛iii Former Vice President Dick Cheney ‚I think that freedom means freedom for everyone. As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish.‛iv U.S. SENATORS Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Senator Boxer supports marriage equality and was an early opponent of Proposition 8. She was one of only 14 Senators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. She has been vocal in her opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would enshrine discrimination against gays and lesbians into the federal Constitution.v Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) Senator Brown is a strong advocate of gay rights. He opposed an amendment to Ohio’s constitution that banned same sex marriage. Brown was also one of the few U.S. Representatives to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) This op-ed by Senator Chris Dodd ran in The Meriden Record-Journal and is posted on his website ‚Public officials aren’t supposed to change their minds. But I firmly believe that it’s important to keep learning. Last week, while I was in Connecticut meeting with members of the gay and lesbian community from across the state, I had the opportunity to tell them what I’ve learned about marriage, and about equality. While I’ve long been for extending every benefit of marriage to same-sex couples, I have in the past drawn a distinction between a marriage-like status (‚civil unions‛) and full marriage rights. The reason was simple: I was raised to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. And as many other Americans have realized as they’ve struggled to reconcile the principle of fairness with the lessons they learned early in life, that’s not an easy thing to overcome. But the fact that I was raised a certain way just isn’t a good enough reason to stand in the way of fairness anymore. The Connecticut Supreme Court, of course, has ruled that such a distinction holds no merit under the law. And the Court is right. I believe that effective leaders must be able and willing to grow and change over their service. I certainly have during mine – and so has the world. Thirty-five years ago, who could have imagined that we’d have an African-American President of the United States? My young daughters are growing up in a different reality than I did. Our family knows many same-sex couples – our neighbors in Connecticut, members of my staff, parents of their schoolmates. Some are now married because the Connecticut Supreme Court and our state legislature have made same-sex marriage legal in our state. But to my daughters, these couples are married simply because they love each other and want to build a life together. That’s what we’ve taught them. The things that make those families different from their own pale in comparison to the commitments that bind those couples together. And, really, that’s what marriage should be. It’s about rights and responsibilities and, most of all, love. I believe that, when my daughters grow up, barriers to marriage equality for same- sex couples will seem as archaic, and as unfair, as the laws we once had against inter- racial marriage. And I want them to know that, even if he was a little late, their dad came down on the right side of history. I have always been proud of my long record fighting for the civil rights of the LGBT community. I’ve co-sponsored legislation to strengthen hate crime laws and end discrimination in the workplace. I’ve spoken out against ‚don’t ask, don’t tell‛ and always supported equal rights for domestic partnerships. But I am also proud to now count myself among the many elected officials, advocates, and ordinary citizens who support full marriage equality for same-sex couples. I understand that even those who oppose discrimination might continue to find it hard to re-think the definition of marriage they grew up with. I know it was for me. But many of the things we must do to make our union more perfect – whether it’s fighting for decades to reform our health care system or struggling with a difficult moral question – are hard. They take time. And they require that, when you come to realize that something is right, you be unafraid to stand up and say it. That’s the only way our history will progress along that long arc towards justice.‛vi Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) ‚Gay and lesbian couples should be able to marry and have access to the same rights, privileges, and benefits that straight couples currently enjoy. Denying people this basic American right is the kind of discrimination that has no place in our laws, especially in a progressive state like Wisconsin. The time has come to end this discrimination and the politics of divisiveness that has become part of this issue.‛vii Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) ‚As a state, I believe we should uphold the ability of our friends, neighbors, and co- workers who are gay and lesbian to enter into the contract of marriage.‛ Senator Al Franken (D-MN) Senator Franken has been a longtime champion for gay rights and has stated that marriage is a basic issue of civil rights. ‚I’m pro-same-sex marriage,‛ he said. ‚I think DOMA will be history soon.‛viii Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) ‚I believe in marriage equality.‛ Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) Senator Harkin was asked about this year’s Iowa Supreme Court ruling in support of marriage equality. He responded on an Iowa television show, ‚Iowa Press,‛ that, ‚We all grow as we get older, and we learn things and we become more sensitive to people and people’s lives. And the more I’ve looked at that, I’ve grown to think differently about how people — how we should live. And I guess I’m at the point of live and let live.‛ ‚There’s always going to be some who feel that they have to push this issue, and for whatever reason, they’re going to try to push it and try to divide people up, but they’re on the losing end. They’re on the losing end of history.‛ Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) Senator Kennedy was one of the most visible champions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in the history of the Senate. A vocal proponent of same-sex marriage, he received the Gerry Studds Visibility Award from the Fenway Community Health Center in Boston, the nation's largest LGBT-focused health facility. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) On October 22, 2008, Senator Kerry delivered a speech at Tufts University, after which he was asked if he supported marriage rights for same-sex couples. His answer: ‚Absolutely.‛ Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) ‚The government should get out of the business of telling same-sex couples in committed relationships that they can't marry. Anything else is not equality.‛ Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Senator Leahy has long supported equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and supports marriage equality. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) Senator Merkley states that he ‚strongly supports marriage equality and will lead the way for equal rights in the U.S. Senate.‛ Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) Senator Reed supports gay rights, voting against the Federal Marriage Amendment, and voting in favor of measures that prevent job discrimination and hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) Senator Sanders is a strong supporter of gay rights, including marriage equality. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) In a letter jointly signed with the NY's Junior U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Schumer said, ‚Equal protection under the law has always been a hallmark of the American political and legal system, and in this instance we believe this principle should be extended to all those in our state who seek the civil contract of marriage and the numerous legal rights and protections that come with it.‛ Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) After Governor John Lynch signed the marriage equality bill in New Hampshire, Senator Shaheen stated: ‚I congratulate Governor Lynch and the state legislature on advancing a marriage equality bill that also protects religious freedom.