Conservatives on LGBT Issues: By Candidate
Potential Republican Nominees for President and Their Stances on
LGBT Equality
All positions current as of February 22, 2011.
This memo looks at the current field of potential Republican nominees for president
and evaluates their stances on various LGBT-related issues in light of comments made in
interviews, news stories, and articles. There are many potential challengers to President
Barack Obama in 2012 but this memo surveys the 13 politicians who have emerged as
major contenders for the Republican nomination.
A summary of the candidates’ positions on different issues can be found below.
Michele Bachmann
Representative from Minnesota
Relationship recognition
“This is an earthquake issue. This will change our state forever. Because the immediate
consequence, if gay marriage goes through, is that K-12 little children will be forced to
learn that homosexuality is normal, natural, and perhaps they should try it.”
Source: KKMS 980-AM, “Prophetic Views Behind the News,” March 20, 2004.
“When [the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that denying marriage rights to samesex couples violated the state constitution], I heard the news...and was devastated. And
I took a walk and I just went to prayer and I said Lord, what would you have me do in
the Minnesota state senate? And just through prayer I knew that I was to introduce the
marriage amendment in Minnesota.”
Source: Think Progress, April 12, 2011
Defense of Marriage Act
“This is just the beginning in our fight to repeal Barack Obama in 2012. Had Barack
Obama been on the ballot in 2010, he would have gone down in a fiery defeat. Yet he
1 Center for American Progress Action Fund | Conservatives on LGBT Issues: By Candidate
continues to push his far-left, socialist agenda on the American people. And today, he
has declared war on marriage. I will continue to do everything in my power to fight back
against Barack Obama’s attacks on marriage and I hope you will join me by adding your
name to my ‘Support Traditional Marriage’ petition.”
Source: Minnesota Independent, February 25, 2011.
Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Voted “No” on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Source: Employment Non-Discrimination Act; Bill H.R. 3685; vote number 2007-1057 on November 13, 2007.
Miscellaneous
“Normalization (of gayness) through desensitization. Very effective way to do this with
a bunch of second graders is take a picture of ‘The Lion King’ for instance, and a teacher
might say, ‘Do you know that the music for this movie was written by a gay man?’ The
message is: ‘I’m better at what I do, because I’m gay.’”
Source: EdWatch National Education Conference, November 6, 2004.
“If you’re involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it’s bondage. It is personal bondage,
personal despair, and personal enslavement.”
Source: EdWatch National Education Conference, November 6, 2004.
While speaking in front of the Family Leader group in Iowa, Bachmann was asked if she
thinks homosexuality is a public health crisis similar to second-hand smoking (as the
Family Leader head has argued). She replies: “Um. I — I don’t have an answer on that. I
don’t have an answer. Why don’t I have another question.”
Source: Think Progress, April 12, 2011.
Haley Barbour
Governor of Mississippi
Defense of Marriage Act
“Marriage is between one man and one woman. The President took an oath to uphold
the Constitution & needs to defend our laws, including DOMA.”
Source: Twitter, February 25, 2011.
“I’m proud that Mississippi cast the highest percentage of its vote of any state in the
country for the Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage as a union between one man
and one woman.”
Source: Jackson Free Press, January 11, 2011.
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Miscellaneous
“‘The GOP must be inclusive,’ he argued, ‘and that idea extends to even the most divisive political issues.’”
Source: Examiner.com, October 13, 2010.
Mitch Daniels
Governor of Indiana
Relationship recognition and spousal benefits
Q: Should Indiana recognize civil unions between same-sex couples? No.
Q: Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry? No.
Q: Should Indiana provide state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples? No.
Source: Indiana Gubernatorial Election 2008 Political Courage Test, November 1, 2008.
Miscellaneous
“The next president ‘would have to call a truce on the so-called social issues. We’re going
to just have to agree to get along for a little while’ until economic issues are resolved.”
Source: The Weekly Standard, June 8, 2010.
“‘No,’ Daniels told the Indianapolis Star in an interview when asked if he has changed his
mind [on the social truce]. ‘I say that with enormous respect for the people who want to
see gay marriage legalized or who have a strong view on some other such question and
want to see ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ go away.’”
Source: The Hill, December 27, 2010.
Rudy Giuliani
Former Mayor of New York City
Relationship recognition
“I clearly believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, although I did
support domestic partnerships and still do a contractual relationship.”
Source: ABC News, August 5, 2007.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
“My feeling about ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was, in the middle of the height of the Iraq
war, not a good time to do it. We’re not in the middle of the height of the Iraq war.
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Afghanistan is a different kind of thing. You could probably accomplish it now. It’s eventually going to happen and it seems to me that it gets my party out of this antigay feeling
that we’re being unfair to people who are gay.”
Source: Towle Road, November 3, 2010.
“This is not the time to deal with disruptive issues like this. Back in 1994 we went
through this and it created a tremendous amount of disruption. In time of war, in a time
where we’re trying to deal with this transition to a new kind of warfare that we have to be
fighting—and we haven’t gotten all the way there yet, we need a hybrid army, we need to
look at nation-building as part of what we have to teach our military.“
Source: 2007 GOP debate at Saint Anselm College, June 3, 2007.
Constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage
“I do not believe under the state that presently exists, with the Defense of Marriage Act
and basically one state that has by judicial fiat created same-sex marriage—I don’t think
we need a constitutional amendment at this point. If a lot of states start to do that—five
or six states—then we should have a constitutional amendment.”
Source: 2007 GOP primary debate in Orlando, Florida, October 21, 2007.
“Not if it remains the way it is now, unless all of a sudden most of the states do what
Massachusetts does and kind of come at it from the other side and decide that the constitution says that you cannot have marriage between a man and a woman. If it stays the
way it is, you don’t need one. If it changes, then you may very well need one.”
Source: “Larry King Live,” February 15, 2007.
Newt Gingrich
Former Speaker of the House
Relationship recognition
“Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling overturning Prop 8 is an outrageous disrespect for our
Constitution and for the majority of people of the United States. In every state of the
union from California to Maine to Georgia, where the people have had a chance to vote
they’ve affirmed that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.”
Source: Newsmax, August 4, 2010.
“I stand on some kind of legal rights. I’m not sure where I stand on civil unions. It’s like
marriage without marriage. I’ll give you a specific example of what I believe. People
ought to have the ability to have people visit them in the hospital, which is the most
obvious and awkward situation.”
Source: The American View, 2005.
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“I’m not in favor of creating the notion of gay marriage or adoption.”
Source: Time, April 15, 2002.
Defense of Marriage Act
“The President is replacing the rule of law with the rule of Obama. The President swore
an oath on the Bible to ensure that the laws be faithfully executed, not to decide which
laws are and which are not constitutional.”
Source: Red Dog Report, February 24, 2011.
Constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage
“Congress now has the responsibility to act immediately to reaffirm marriage as a union
of one man and one woman as our national policy.”
Source: Newsmax, August 4, 2010.
Miscellaneous
“[T]here is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the
rest of us.”
Source: “The O’Reilly Factor,” November 14, 2010.
When asked by Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, “What would you
do, as a president, to slow down the homosexual agenda?” Gingrich responded: “I think
my emphasis would be pro-Classical Christianity, and pro the values that you and I have
and that most Americans have.”
Source: She Wired
Mike Huckabee
Former Governor of Arkansas
Relationship recognition
“‘I do believe that God created male and female and intended for marriage to be the
relationship of the two opposite sexes,’ Huckabee said in explaining his views on gay
marriage. ‘Male and female are biologically compatible to have a relationship. We can get
into the ick factor, but the fact is two men in a relationship, two women in a relationship,
biologically, that doesn’t work the same.’”
Sources: Politico, June 22, 2010.
“The only thing worse than a torrid affair with sweet, sweet Nancy [Pelosi] would be
a torrid affair with Helen Thomas. If those were my only options, I’d probably be for
same-sex marriage!”
Sources: Politico, June 22, 2010.
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While discussing marriage for gay couples: “There are a lot of people who like to use
drugs so let’s go ahead and accommodate those who want to use drugs. … there are
some people who believe in incest, so we should accommodate them. There are people
who believe in polygamy, should we accommodate them?”
Sources: Politico, June 22, 2010.
Defense of Marriage Act
“I believe that we’re in denial about potential problems as we see more and more
homosexual couples raising families. Essentially, these are experiments to see how well
children will fare in such same-sex households. It will be years before we know whether
or not our little guinea pigs turn out to be good at marriage and parenthood.”
Source: Excerpt from Huckabee’s A Simple Government, 2011
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
“It’s already covered by the Uniform Code of Military Conduct. I think that’s what
Congressman [Ron] Paul was saying. It’s about conduct, it’s not about attitude. You
don’t punish people for their attitudes. You punish them if their behavior creates a problem. I don’t think that I would [change the policy]. I think it’s already covered by the
existing policy that we do have, in fact.”
Source: 2007 GOP debate at Saint Anselm College, June 3, 2007.
Adoption
“If you’re asking me do I believe that all people who adhere to a biblical practice of one
man, one woman, for life, raising, not only creating the next generation, but training
their replacements, that’s gonna still for me be the ideal relationship.”
Source: “Rosie Radio,” April 23, 2010.
Jon Huntsman
Former Governor of Utah, Former U.S. Ambassador to China
Relationship recognition
“The Republican governor says that while he supports traditional marriage, he also supports same-sex civil unions. To my mind, and to the mind of a lot of Utahans, equate to
equal rights to all people, and I stand by that and I will continue to stand by that.”
Source: KSL, April 23, 2009.
“I believe in the traditional definition of marriage, but I also believe that we can do a better job in enhancing equal rights for more of our citizens.”
Source: BYU’s Universe, February 11, 2009.
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“I had many discussions about Amendment 3 [an amendment to the Utah state constitution passed in 2004 that defines marriage as exclusively between one man and one
woman] with many legal experts who informed me that individual rights, equal rights,
could be taken up to the level of civil unions without compromising traditional marriage, which is something I believe in.”
Source: Daily Herald, February 9, 2009.
Gary Johnson
Former Governor of New Mexico
Relationship recognition
“But I do support gay unions. I think the government should be out of the marriage
business and leave marriage to the churches.”
Source: The Weekly Standard, December 6, 2010.
”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
“As has been widely documented, more than twenty of our NATO allies—including
those with whom our troops serve alongside in Iraq and Afghanistan—allow gay men
and women to serve openly, and the sky has not fallen.”
Source: The Iowa Independent, December 17, 2010.
Miscellaneous
“He says he supports ‘the notion of gay rights,’ even though he thinks ‘the notion of
bankruptcy and getting our fiscal house in order is really the issue’ of the day.”
Source: Daily Caller, August 9, 2010.
“He told reporters that he supported the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and supported
‘gay unions,’ but not gay marriage.”
Source: New Mexico Independent, February 11, 2010.
Fred Karger
LGBT Activist, Political Consultant
Relationship recognition
“I will make gay marriage the law of the land.”
Source: Opening statement delivered at press conference at Southern Republican Leadership Conference, April 10, 2010.
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Employment Non-Discrimination Act
“I will pass the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act.”
Source: Opening statement delivered at press conference at Southern Republican Leadership Conference, April 10, 2010.
Defense of Marriage Act
“I will eliminate the Defense of Marriage Act.”
Source: Opening statement delivered at press conference at Southern Republican Leadership Conference, April 10, 2010.
”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
“This is kind of a political football that people’s lives are being tossed around, 14,000
people have already been discharged under ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell,’ it costs $355 million
for the government, so it’s ridiculous. It’s discriminatory; the president should have
done it with a stroke of the pen and not be enforcing it.”
Source: Washington Independent, December 9, 2010.
Miscellaneous
“If I do nothing else, to kind of make [gay rights], to put a face on this issue as opposed
to what happened in previous elections like 2004 where the gay community was getting
used as a political tool to strengthen the president’s reelection. If I can do that I’ll have
done quite a bit.”
Source: Washington Independent, December 9, 2010.
“I’m a fighter. I’m fighting for millions of people around this country who are members
of my community and so many others who are deemed second class citizens. We will no
longer accept that classification.”
Source: Washington Independent, December 9, 2010.
Sarah Palin
Former Governor of Alaska, Former Vice Presidential Nominee
Relationship recognition
“I am, in my own state, I have voted along with the vast majority of Alaskans who had
the opportunity to vote to amend our constitution defining marriage as between one
and one woman. I wish on a federal level that’s where we would go. … you know, I’m
not going to be up there judging individuals, sitting in a seat of judgment, telling them
what they can and can’t do, should and should not do. But I certainly can express my
own opinion here and take actions that I believe would be best for traditional marriage.”
Source: Interview with David Brody, October 23, 2008.
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“Well not if it goes closer and closer toward redefining the traditional definition of
marriage between one man and woman and unfortunately that’s sometimes where
those steps lead. But I also want to clarify if there’s any kind of suggestion, at all, from
my answer that I would be anything but tolerant of adults in America choosing their
partners, choosing relationships that they deem best for themselves. You know, I am
tolerant. And I have a very diverse family and group of friends.”
Source: CNN vice presidential debate, October 2, 2008.
“I am pro-life and I believe that marriage should only be between and man and a
woman.”
Source: Campaign website, November 7, 2006.
Defense of Marriage Act
“I have always believed that marriage is between one man and one woman. Like the
majority of Americans, I support the Defense of Marriage Act and find it appalling that
the Obama administration decided not to defend this federal law which was enacted
with broad bipartisan support and signed into law by a Democratic President. It’s appalling, but not surprising that the President has flip-flopped on yet another issue from his
stated position as a candidate to a seemingly opposite position once he was elected.”
Source: National Review Online, March 1, 2011.
”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
“I don’t think so right now. …and I say that because there are other things to be worried about right now with the military. I think that kind of on the back burner, is sufficient for now.”
Source: The New Civil Rights Movement, January 5, 2011.
Miscellaneous
Palin retweeted this: “But this hypocrisy is just truly too much. Enuf already--the more
someone complains about the homos the more we should look under their bed.”
Source: Huffington Post, January 4, 2011.
Tim Pawlenty
Former Governor of Minnesota
Relationship recognition
“My general view on all of this is that marriage is to be defined as being a union of a man
and a woman. Marriage should be elevated in our society at a special level. I don’t think
all domestic relationships are the equivalent of traditional marriage.”
Source: Newsweek, December 20, 2009.
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”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
“Bryan, I have been a public and repeat supporter of maintaining ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’
There’s a lot of reasons for that, but if you look at how the combat commanders and the
combat units feel about it, the results of those kinds of surveys were different than the
ones that were mostly reported in the newspaper and that is something I think we need
to pay attention to.”
Source: Interview with Bryan Fischer, American Family Association radio host and head of the Idaho Family Alliance, January 13, 2011.
“We have to pay great deference, I think to those combat units, their sentiments and
their leaders. That’s one of the reasons why I said we shouldn’t have repealed Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell and I would support reinstatement. [Rescinding the funds for implementation, implementation of repeal] would be a reasonable step as well.”
Source: Think Progress February 7, 2011, On DADT VIDEO
Spousal benefits
Q: I know you are opposed to gay marriage, but what about medical benefits for samesex couples?
A: I have not supported that.
Source: Newsweek, December 20, 2009.
Employment Non-Discrimination Act
“That statute is not worded the way it should be. I said I regretted the vote later because
it included things like cross-dressing, and a variety of other people involved in behaviors that weren’t based on sexual orientation, just a preference for the way they dressed
and behaved. So it was overly broad. So if you are a third-grade teacher and you are a
man and you show up on Monday as Mr. Johnson and you show up on Tuesday as Mrs.
Johnson, that is a little confusing to the kids. So I don’t like that.”
Source: Newsweek, December 20, 2009.
Defense of Marriage Act
“I firmly believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, as President Obama told
us he believed in 2008. But now President Obama and his Justice Department would
have us believe that traditional marriage laws are unconstitutional.”
Source: Washington Independent, February 25, 2011.
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Mitt Romney
Former Governor of Massachusetts
Relationship recognition
“I agree with 3,000 years of recorded history. I disagree with the Supreme Judicial Court
of Massachusetts. Marriage is an institution between a man and a woman. I will support an amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution to make that expressly clear. Of
course, basic civil rights and certain appropriate benefits should be available to people in
nontraditional relationships. But marriage is a special institution between a man and a
woman, and our constitution and laws should reflect that.”
Source: Stump speech, April 28, 2007.
Defense of Marriage Act
“[Obama] has an obligation as chief executive to enforce and defend the laws of the
nation. He should not abdicate that responsibility based on his own interpretations and
personal views.”
Source: National Organization for Marriage, February 2011.
”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
“In a 1994 letter to the Log Cabin Republicans, who advocate gay rights, Romney said
he was in favor of ‘gays and lesbians being able to serve openly and honestly’ in the military. He now says it would be a mistake to interfere with the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell policy.’”
Source: GovWatch on 2008 campaign: “Top Ten Flip-Flops,” February 5, 2008.
Employment Non-Discrimination Act
“I think it makes sense for states to put in provision of this. I would not support at the
federal level, and I changed in that regard because I think that policy makes more sense
to be implemented at the state level. If you’re looking for someone who’s never changed
any positions on any policies, then I’m not your guy. I learn from experience.”
Source: Meet the Press: 2007 “Meet the Candidates” series, December 16, 2007.
Adoption
“Governor Mitt Romney, who frequently tells Republican audiences that every child has
a right to have a mother and father, acknowledged yesterday that same-sex couples have
‘a legitimate interest’ in adopting children.”
Source: Boston News, March 14, 2006.
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Miscellaneous
“‘We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern,’ Mr. Romney
wrote in a detailed plea for the support of the [Log Cabin Republicans], a gay
Republican organization.”
Source: The New York Times, December 6, 2008.
Rick Santorum
Former Junior Senator from Pennsylvania
Relationship recognition
“I don’t believe in same-sex adoption, nor do I believe in same-sex marriage.”
Source: On Top, January 20, 2011.
“Every society in the history of man has upheld the institution of marriage as a bond
between a man and a woman. Why? Because society is based on one thing: that society
is based on the future of the society. And that’s what? Children. Monogamous relationships. In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included
homosexuality. That’s not to pick on homosexuality. It’s not, you know, man on child,
man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing. And when you destroy that
you have a dramatic impact on the quality.”
Source: USA Today, April 23, 2003.
“Let me first define what we are not talking about. I believe if two adults of the same sex
want to have a relationship that is their business. But when they ask society to give that
relationship special recognition and privileges, then we should be able to have a rational
debate about whether that is good public policy.”
Source: Des Moines Register, March 4, 2011
Adoption
“But what I can say is that the state is not doing a service to the child and to society by
not putting that child in a home where there is a mother and a father. This is common
sense. This is nature. And what we’re trying to do is defy nature because a certain group
of people want to be affirmed by society. And I just don’t think that’s to the benefit of
society or to the child.”
Source: On Top, January 20, 2011.
”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
“Look, ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was not about men and women serving in the military.
Men and women who are gay and lesbian can serve in the military right now.”
Source: Panel with Sean Hannity, Fox News, December 23, 2010.
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Defense of Marriage Act
“When the definition of marriage has been put before the people, they have time and
time again—from Maine to California—stood up in defense of the traditional family.
President Obama’s refusal to defend a law that was overwhelmingly supported on both
sides of the aisle and signed into law by a president of his own party is an affront to the
will of the people.”
Source: Talking Points Memo, February 23, 2011.
Miscellaneous
“I have no problem from a public policy point of view with homosexuality.”
Source: The New Civil Rights Movement, April 21, 2010.
“If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual (gay) sex within your
home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the
right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything.”
Source: CNN News, April 23, 2003.
Donald Trump
chairman and ceo, trump organization
Relationship recognition
“I am not in favor of gay marriage.”
Source: Fox News, interview with Greta Van Susteren, February 14, 2011.
“[Gay couples] should not be able to marry.” When asked whether gay couples should
be able to access the same benefits as married couples, Trump said his “attitude on it has
not been fully formed.”
Source: Des Moines Register, March 3, 2011.
“I think the institution of marriage should be between a man and a woman. I do favor a
very strong domestic-partnership law that guarantees gay people the same legal protection and rights as married people. I think it’s important for gay couples who are committed to each other to not be hassled when it comes to inheritance, insurance benefits, and
other simple every-day rights.”
Source: The Advocate, February 15, 2000.
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“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
When asked if gay people should be allowed to serve in the military, Trump responded:
“Yes… ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ has clearly failed. Gay people serve effectively in the military in a number of European countries. There is no reason why they can’t serve in the
United States.”
Source: The Advocate, February 15, 2000.
Miscellaneous
“I like the idea of amending the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation. It would be simple. It would be straightforward…
Amending the Civil Rights Act would grant the same protection to gay people that we
give to other Americans – it’s only fair.”
Source: The Advocate, February 15, 2000.
Ron Paul
Representative from Texas
Relationship Recognition
“My personal belief is that marriage is a religious ceremony and it should be dealt with
religiously, the state really shouldn’t be involved. To amend the constitution is totally
unnecessary to define something that is already in the dictionary.”
Source: Fox News, October 22, 2007
“If I were in Congress in 1996, I would have voted for the Defense of Marriage Act,
which used Congress’s constitutional authority to define what official state documents
other states have to recognize under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, to ensure that no
state would be forced to recognize a “same sex” marriage license issued in another state.”
Source: Statement by Ron Paul to Congress, October 1, 2004
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
“Since we cannot have only perfect people going in the military I want to separate the
two because I don’t want to know the heterosexual flaws, nor the homosexual flaws and
that’s why I got in some trouble with some of the civil libertarians because I don’t have
any problem with “don’t ask, don’t tell.””
Source: The Washington Post, May 28, 2010
“I have received several calls and visits from constituents who, in spite of the heavy
investment in their training, have been forced out of the military simply because they
were discovered to be homosexual. To me, this seems like an awful waste. Personal
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behavior that is disruptive should be subject to military discipline regardless of whether
the individual is heterosexual or homosexual. But to discharge an otherwise welltrained, professional, and highly skilled member of the military for these reasons is
unfortunate and makes no financial sense.”
Source: The Washington Post, May 28, 2010
Miscellaneous
“If you want to change people, you change them through persuasion, through family
values and church values. But you can’t do it through legislation because force doesn’t
work... A group can’t force themselves on anybody else. So there should be no affirmative action for any group, so if a homosexual group wanted to enforce their way on us,
there’s no right to do that either.”
Source: Glassbooth
“We don’t get our rights because we’re gays, or women, or minorities, we get our rights
from our Creator as individuals.”
Source: CNN Glassbooth, December 18, 2007
Where the candidates stand on the issues
Relationship recognition
Only 1 of the 15 major contenders for the 2012 Republican nomination, Fred Karger,
supports full marriage equality. Karger, an openly gay man himself, vows to make “gay
marriage the law of the land” should he become president. Three of the contenders—
Rudy Giuliani, Gary Johnson, and Jon Huntsman—support establishing civil unions for
same-sex couples.
For six of the potential candidates—Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Gov.
Haley Barbour, Donald Trump, and Ron Paul —it is unclear whether they support
civil unions. Five of the potential candidates, however—Michele Bachmann, Mike
Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels, and Rick Santorum—do not support relationship recognition of any kind for same-sex couples.
It should be noted, though, that former Gov. Mitt Romney’s views on relationship
recognition have not always been so stridently anti-LGBT equality. Romney, during his
campaign to unseat Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) in 1994, suggested in a letter to the Log
Cabin Republicans, an organization that represents LGBT Republicans, that he would
be a stronger advocate for LGBT equality than Kennedy.
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“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Four of the major contenders—Rudy Giuliani, Gary Johnson, Fred Karger, and Donald
Trump—supported the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military policy barring gay
men and women from serving openly.
It is unclear where three of them—Newt Gingrich, Gov. Haley Barbour, and Jon
Huntsman—stand on the issue, but it is likely that Gingrich did not support repeal
based on prior statements about gays in the military.
Six of the potential challengers to President Barack Obama—Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin,
Mike Huckabee, Gov. Mitch Daniels, Rick Santorum, and Rep. Michele Bachmann—
did not support repeal. And former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has said that he
would “re-instate the policy” if he were elected president in 2012.
It should also be noted that both former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Texas
Representative Ron Paul did not support repeal at first but eventually changed their
position over time.
Employment Non-Discrimination Act
One of the major contenders—Fred Karger—supports the passage of the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act at the federal level, which would make it illegal for employers
to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Mitt Romney does not support ENDA at the federal level but instead believes it is an
issue best left to the states. Two of the possible nominees—Tim Pawlenty and Rep.
Michele Bachmann—do not support the enactment of such legislation at any level.
It is unclear where 12 of the possible nominees—Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt
Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Gov. Mitch Daniels, Gov. Haley Barbour,
Rudy Giuliani, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Donald Trump, and Ron Paul—stand on
this issue.
Constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage
Seven of the major contenders—Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Tim
Pawlenty, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and Rep. Michele Bachmann—support a
federal amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would expressly prohibit same-sex
marriage.
It is unclear where four of the potential nominees—Gov. Haley Barbour, Gov. Mitch
Daniels, Gary Johnson, and Jon Huntsman—stand on this issue. Only three—Rudy
Giuliani, Fred Karger, and Ron Paul—oppose such an amendment.
16 Center for American Progress Action Fund | Conservatives on LGBT Issues: By Candidate
Adoption
Four of the major contenders—Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and
Rep. Michele Bachmann—do not support allowing gay and lesbian people to legally
adopt children. Former Gov. Mitt Romney concedes that gay and lesbian people have
a “legitimate interest” in adopting a child but stopped short of endorsing same-sex
adoption.
It is unclear where ten of the potential nominees—Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, Rudy
Giuliani, Gov. Mitch Daniels, Gov. Haley Barbour, Fred Karger, Jon Huntsman, Gary
Johnson, Donald Trump, and Ron Paul—stand on this issue. Pawlenty, however, would
likely oppose gay adoptions based on past statements about gay and lesbian families.
Rudy Giuliani and Fred Karger would likely support them.
Defense of Marriage Act
Nine of the major contenders—Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Rep. Michele Bachmann,
Gov. Haley Barbour, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani,
and Tim Pawlenty—support the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a
union between one man and one woman at the federal level. It is unclear where three
of them—Gary Johnson, Jon Huntsman, and Gov. Mitch Daniels—stand on the issue
though it is likely that Gov. Mitch Daniels supports the law. Only one of the contenders,
Fred Karger, opposes the law.
Spousal benefits
Eight of the major contenders—Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Rudy
Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, and Fred Karger—support
extending spousal benefits of some sort to same-sex couples. Most of them highlighted
hospital visitation and the ability to freely negotiate contracts as rights they would
support.
Four of the potential nominees—Rep. Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Rick
Santorum, and Gov. Mitch Daniels—do not support spousal benefits of any kind for
same-sex couples. It is unclear where Gov. Haley Barbour stands on this issue.
Noel Gordon is an intern with LGBT Progress and Jeff Krehely is Director of the LGBT
Research and Communications Project at American Progress.
17 Center for American Progress Action Fund | Conservatives on LGBT Issues: By Candidate