2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Has Sanders really always supported marriage equality [View all]Zorra
(27,670 posts)It is the considered sacrifices and radical actions of the pioneers, of the activists, which lay the foundations for eventual social change. If people like Bernie Sanders did not stand up for LGBT like Bernie did in what still exists of the written record of his support for advancing the cause of LGBT equality and rights back when it was unheard of for straight people to do so, we would not have the right to legally marry today.
It is the actions of brave people willing to take action, real risk, for an important social cause that bring about eventual "evolution" in politicians like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, both of whom were apparently basically unconscious regarding the essential nature of the struggle and equal humanity of LGBT until relatively recently. Bernie Sanders, a straight person, was advocating for us just a few years after Hillary ended her tenure as a Goldwater Girl.
Forcing ideas regarding social change into the public consciousness and subsequently into the political process requires years of creating social tension. It never gets done overnight.
It takes years, decades, sometimes centuries. One step at a time, everything in its time. Nitpicking, trying to find information on the internet seeking statements about when Bernie Sanders first supported same sex marriage, in order to fit your agenda, is a waste of time. Bernie's actions as a public servant, in concert with the actions of so many others, helped bring about our recent victory regarding marriage equality. Bernie has unquestionably been one of the good guys for a very long time.
So if you really want to know when Bernie first supported same sex marriage, it may be best to ask him. Like most of us old liberals, he won't remember the exact date, because he has understood for a very long time that no one should be discriminated against, ever, in any way. It's a matter of consciousness. And actions speak so much louder than words.
"The phone calls, from mostly out of state, were so awful," he recalls. "I actually took a turn, without identifying myself, answering the phone in the office just to see how hateful they were, and they were really repulsive."
"My security detail asked me to wear a bulletproof vest for the summer when I was campaigning after I signed it," Dean says.
For all the controversy, civil unions soon took a back seat to the push for marriage. In 2004, the Massachusetts Supreme Court allowed gay couples to wed.
http://www.npr.org/2013/03/21/174879832/as-gay-marriage-heads-to-court-a-look-back-at-the-bumpy-ride
snip---
I remember being on the floor at the time, Sanders said. It was politically a very difficult vote, and despite what some may say, the Supreme Court evolves as does the American public. I think its also fair to say that very few people would have predicted the degree to which gay rights have changed, the dramatic change in a relatively short period of time.
Sanders pointed to the pioneering role Vermont has played on LGBT issues. He said Vermont arguably is the leading state that has advanced gay rights. In 2000, Vermont became the first state in the country to enact civil unions, which Sanders said he supported at the time, even though it was very, very difficult politically. In 2009, Vermont became the first state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage through the legislature.
The country could see another milestone in a little more than a month, when the U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule on whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/05/15/sanders-touts-lgbt-record-in-white-house-bid/