Bernie sanders gay marriage civil unions

For far too long our justice system has marginalized the gay community and I am very glad the Court has finally caught up to the American people.” Sen. Sanders voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in and supported Vermont’s civil union law in and legalization of gay marriage in At the time, he also opposed a federal anti-gay-marriage amendment—but so did his Republican opponent for the Senate seat, Richard Tarrant, who also supported civil unions.

Howard Dean, Sen. Jim Jeffords and Sen. Patrick Leahy all took a position, all in opposition to gay marriage. How has Bernie voted on same-sex marriage? Indeed, even his opposition to DOMA was not a clear expression of support for gay marriage.

After the legislature passed a civil unions bill, Sanders expressed support for that, but he stopped short of pushing for gay marriage to be recognized. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Here, we wanted to look at whether Sanders supported same-sex marriage two decades ago.

Sanders Has Evolved On

He supported Vermont’s civil union law and supported Vermont’s first-in-the-country law legalizing gay marriage. Sanders, who first publicly endorsed gay marriage inexpressed varying levels of support for gay rights as he rose from the mayor of liberal Burlington to a congressman.

Alexandra Jaffe. Search Search. But the court sent the issue to the legislature to decide, and there Sanders initially refused to take a position. But he said Sanders has exaggerated his record on gay marriage. Six years later, when the George W.

He explained his stance on gay marriage during a U. She accused him of "the same kind of tactical thinking IE 11 is not supported. He has long been a supporter of same-sex marriage. NBC News Logo. But on his home turf in Vermont, the first state to recognize civil unions and a trailblazer in same-sex marriage rights, gay rights advocates say Sanders was less than a leader, and not entirely present, on the issue.

Inhe called on President Obama to “join in supporting marriage equality.”. I was there. At the time, his wife and chief of staff said he opposed the bill on Constitutional grounds. Latest Stories U. By Alexandra Jaffe. Skip to Content. Bernie Sanders has been attacking Hillary Clinton for her stance on gay marriage and framing himself as a longstanding advocate for gay rights, but Sanders' support has not always been so steadfast.

News reports from the early s reveal a senator reluctant to embrace gay marriage even when his own relatively liberal state was going through its own debate on the issue. What we found was long-standing support for gay rights in general, a voting record consistent with same-sex.

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