George Pataki presidential campaign, 2016/Gay rights

	; ; Former presidential candidate; George Pataki
	Political office: ; Governor of New York; (1995 - 2007);
	Pataki on the issues:
	Taxes • Banking policy • Government regulations • International trade • Budgets • Agricultural subsidies • Federal assistance programs • Labor and employment • Foreign affairs • Federalism • Natural resources • Healthcare • Immigration • Education • Abortion • Gay rights • Civil liberties
	Republican candidate:
	Donald Trump
	Ballotpedia's presidential election coverage; 2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016

George Pataki suspended his presidential run on December 29, 2015.^[1]

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This page was current as of the 2016 election.

George Pataki said during the September 2015 GOP debate that America should not be “a place where religion supersedes the rule of law” and that “when you are an elected official and you take an oath of office to uphold the law, all the laws, you cannot pick and choose or you no longer have a society that depends on the rule of law.” Pataki made these statements in reference to the actions of Kim Davis, a Kentucky clerk who was jailed for refusing to give out same-sex marriage licenses following the Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marraige in Obergefell v. Hodges.^[2]^[3]

In April 2015, Pataki said during an interview on WMUR that the legality of same-sex marriage is a states' rights issue. Pataki explained, "I believe it should be left to the states. Honestly, I think marriage should be between a man and a woman. I honestly think it has religious connotations and I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, but I think that states should have the decision power and the ability to decide themselves. Marriage has never been a federal issue. If New York state and New Hampshire want to have different laws from Texas and Utah, that's perfectly fine. That's America."^[4] When asked in 2004 whether same-sex marriages should be performed in New York, Pataki said, "Marriage under New York State law is and has been for over 200 years between a man and a woman. And we have to uphold that law."^[5]

After signing a bill in 2002 that added the words "sexual orientation" to New York's anti-discrimination law, Pataki said, "It's not upstate, downstate, Republican, Democrat, black, white, straight, gay. We are one New York and I think the passage of this bill is another important step in the confirmation of that."^[6]

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