Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, 2016/Gay rights

	; ; Former presidential candidate; Bernie Sanders
	Political offices: ; U.S. Senator; (Assumed office: 2007); U.S. Representative; (1991-2007);
	Sanders on the issues:
	Taxes • Banking policy • Government regulations • International trade • Budgets • Agricultural subsidies • Federal assistance programs • Foreign affairs • Federalism • Healthcare • Immigration • DACA and DAPA • Education • Abortion • Gay rights
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Bernie Sanders announced his presidential run on April 30, 2015.^[1]

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This page was current as of the 2016 election.

CANDIDATE SUMMARY
Believes it is time to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
Said the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges provides “equal justice under law” for same-sex couples

Bernie Sanders voted against H.J.Res.88 - the Marriage Protection Amendment, which proposed declaring "that: (1) marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman; and (2) neither the U.S. Constitution nor the constitution of any state shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon any other union."^[2]

On June 26, 2015, Bernie Sanders issued the following statement on his Senate website to commemorate Obergefell v. Hodges: “Today the Supreme Court fulfilled the words engraved upon its building: ‘Equal justice under law.’ This decision is a victory for same-sex couples across our country as well as all those seeking to live in a nation where every citizen is afforded equal rights. 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.”^[3]

After North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed House Bill 2 into law on March 24, 2016, Bernie Sanders tweeted, “It's time to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This law has no place in America.”^[4]
In a March 30, 2016, interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Sanders was asked whether, as a “fierce critic of the influence of the wealthy and big business on our politics,” he thought big business should try to wield political influence and weigh in against new laws that are discriminatory against LGBT people. Sanders responded, “Well, you know, look, they have — when we look at politics in America, you have CEOs of major corporations, who have children who are gay, who have friends who are gay, whose wives or daughters have had abortions. They live in the real world, and they’re responding to this type of very right-wing reactionary policies, and I understand that, and I appreciate that. When I talk about money in politics, what I talk about is the Koch Brothers and billionaires, spending hundreds of millions of dollars, along with Wall Street, to create a situation where politics — politicians will be elected who represent the wealthy and the powerful.”^[5]

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