Rand Paul presidential campaign, 2016/Gay rights

	; ; Former Presidential candidate ; Rand Paul
	Political offices: ; U.S. Senator; (Assumed office: 2011)
	Paul on the issues:
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	Donald Trump
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Rand Paul suspended his presidential run on February 3, 2016.^[1]

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This page was current as of the 2016 election.

During a speech at Drake University on October 14, 2015, Rand Paul argued that protections for gender identity discrimination were unnecessary. He said, "I think, really, the things you do in your house, we can just leave those in the house, and they wouldn't have to be part of the workplace, to tell you the truth. These are very difficult decisions, on what you decide will be employers' decisions and not. And it really isn't so much about that question as it is about that it sets a classification, or a class of people, who can now sue."^[2]

Paul discusses gay marriage in April 2015 on CNN.

In response to the video showing a Kentucky clerk refusing to give out same-sex marriage licenses in the first week of September, Paul said, “I think people who do stand up and are making a stand to say that they believe in something is an important part of the American way.”^[3]

The Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional on June 26, 2015. Following the decision, Paul wrote in a Time op-ed, "While I disagree with Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage, I believe that all Americans have the right to contract." He also questioned whether government has a place in regulating marriage. "Perhaps it is time to be more careful what we ask government to do, and where we allow it to become part of our lives."^[4]

Following the decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, Rand Paul wrote an op-ed in TIME on June 28, 2015, to oppose the involvement of the government, in any capacity, in marriage. Paul wrote, "While I disagree with Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage, I believe that all Americans have the right to contract. The Constitution is silent on the question of marriage because marriage has always been a local issue. Our founding fathers went to the local courthouse to be married, not to Washington, D.C. I’ve often said I don’t want my guns or my marriage registered in Washington."^[5]
- Suggesting that religious liberty must be protected in the wake of Obergefell, Paul added, "Perhaps it is time to be more careful what we ask government to do, and where we allow it to become part of our lives. The Constitution was written by wise men who were raised up by God for that very purpose. There is a reason ours was the first where rights came from our creator and therefore could not be taken away by government. Government was instituted to protect them."^[5]

When asked his opinion on gay marriage in April 2015, Rand Paul responded, "States will end up making the decisions on these things. I think that there’s a religious connotation to marriage. I believe in the traditional religious connotation to this, but I also believe people ought to be treated fairly under the law. I see no reason why if the marriage contract conveys certain things, that if you [a female reporter] want to marry another woman, that you can do that and have a contract, but the thing is the religious connotation of marriage that has been going on for thousands of years, I still want to preserve that. You probably could have both. You could have both traditional marriage, which I believe in, and then you could also have the neutrality of the law that allows people to have contracts with another.” ^[6]

Paul attended a prayer breakfast at the Capitol Hill Club on March 26, 2015, where he stated that there is a "moral crisis that allows people to think that there would be some sort of other marriage" in the United States.^[7]

During a March 2013 interview, Paul suggested the tax code could be adjusted to account for contracts between adults in relationships outside of traditional marriage. Paul explained, “I’m an old-fashioned traditionalist. I believe in the historic and religious definition of marriage. That being said, I’m not for eliminating contracts between adults. I think there are ways to make the tax code more neutral, so it doesn’t mention marriage. Then we don’t have to redefine what marriage is; we just don’t have marriage in the tax code.”^[8]

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