Much like Clinton, Kaine's views have evolved

by Makalyn Kowalik
Op.Ed.

While most are aware that the Democratic Presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, now stands and fights for LGBT rights, these have not always been her views. Her stance on marriage equality has evolved since her last run for the candidacy. Because while she favored non-discrimination protections and civil unions for same-sex couples, Clinton didn't support marriage equality at the time. The same goes for her running mate, Tim Kaine.

Even though Kaine has been well known as a pro-LGBT and equality politician, his ideals on marriage equality specifically have been an evolutionary process quite similar to Clinton’s.

In 2001, Kaine, running for lieutenant governor, said that he believed gay couples should be afforded all the same "civil benefits" married couples enjoy. At the time, he was the only candidate for lieutenant governor in Virginia that backed any kind of LGBTQ equality before the law. 

However, he did not back gay marriage, which was a common attitude in 2001.  

"I have never said I supported gay civil unions, gay marriages," Kaine told AP in 2011. "I do believe that people shouldn't be kicked out of their jobs or discriminated against because of who they are."

Kaine has fought for workplace equality for at least a decade, though. Kaine issued an executive order protecting state employees from workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in 2006. When Virginia's Republican attorney general requested that Kaine repeal the executive order, saying it was unconstitutional, Kaine said, "I'm not going to tell my Cabinet secretaries and agency heads that they are now free to discriminate." 

Kaine has now backed marriage equality since 2013.

"I believe all people, regardless of sexual orientation, should be guaranteed the full rights to the legal benefits and responsibilities of marriage under the Constitution," Kaine said in a statement. "I hope the Supreme Court will affirm that principle."

Just one year prior to this statement, Kaine was hesitant to use that label, but still backed legal equality.

Kaine's career of helping LGBTQ people gain equality before the law stands in strong contrast to Mike Pence, Trump’s running mate, who values religious freedom over legal protections, believes marriage equality will cause a "societal collapse" and advocated defunding nationwide HIV prevention and funding conversion therapy. 

The hesitation in openly endorsing their support for marriage equality is, for some, an unnerving similarity between Clinton and her running mate. However, most can look past the road behind these candidates and look forward to the hopeful equality for the LGBT community to come. 

The Gayly - 7/25/2016 @11:58 a.m. CDT