The complete truth about Joe Biden’s LGBT record

On Aug. 31, 2020 pop superstar Cher hosted a digital LGBT fundraiser for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. Joe Biden has been roundly endorsed by prominent, left-wing LGBT groups and famous personalities. Biden’s actual record, spanning over 40 years in Washington, instead shows a politician who spent his entire career attacking gay people and the LGBT community. From his persistent opposition to gay marriage, to continued support for regimes that murder homosexuals, and even suggesting gay people might be “security risks” as federal employees, Biden’s open support for LGBT rights arrived very late, even among Democrats, and well after great advances toward LGBT equality had already been made.

In the Workplace

Biden suggested that gay federal employees were “security risks”

In 1973, As a senator Joe Biden said gay people could not receive security clearances because they would be a “security risk.”  “Biden also agreed to answer later by mail a series of questions on U.S. Civil Service and military job discrimination which Robert Vane, a gay activist, presented him. ‘My gut reaction,’ Biden told Vane, ‘is that they [homosexuals] are security risks but I must admit I haven’t given this much thought…I’ll be darned!’” according to The Morning News

Biden voted for Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, which kicked 14,500 service members out of the U.S. Military

As a U.S. senator, Joe Biden supported Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. In 1993, Joe Biden voted in favor of H.R. 2401 (National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 1994) which codified the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy concerning gays in the military.

More than 14,500 service members were discharged from the military for violating the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy between 1994 and 2011, according to the non-profit watchdog and lobby group, the Service members Legal Defense Network.

In Schools

Biden voted for an amendment to cut off federal funding for schools that taught “acceptance of homosexuality as a lifestyle”

In August 1994, Biden was one of 23 Democrats to vote for S.Amdt. 2434. The amendment “cut off federal funds to any school district that teaches acceptance of homosexuality as a lifestyle.” The 63-36 vote came during debate on reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provides $12.5 billion in federal funds to the nation’s public schools.

In Representation

Biden’s home state newspaper described him as being relatively silent on gay rights

In 1998, Delaware Pride board member Vicki Morelli said that “none” of Delaware’s congressional delegation, including Biden, stood up for gay rights and instead stayed quiet. “They’re all good enough politicians that they know not to make hateful comments against gays, yet not to fight so vigorously for gay rights that alienate voters,” she said to The News Journal on Jul. 26, 1998.

Biden never acknowledged the historic appointment of Richard Grenell to the Cabinet

Richard Grenell became the highest ranking openly gay federal official when he was confirmed by the Senate for the prestigious ambassadorship to Germany. He was then appointed by President Trump to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence, the only openly gay man to serve in a presidential Cabinet. Biden never once acknowledged or congratulated Grenell on the historic appointment and the watershed moment for gay representation in government.

In Children and Families

Biden voted for the Defense Of Marriage Act

In 1996, the Defense Of Marriage Act defined marriage “as only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife… The measure defined marriage as between a man and a woman and allowed states not to recognize same-sex marriages. Same-sex couples could not claim federal benefits,” according to PolitiFact. DOMA “amends the Federal judicial code to provide that no State, territory, or possession of the United States or Indian tribe shall be required to give effect to any marriage between persons of the same sex… Establishes a Federal definition of: (1) ‘marriage’ as only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.” Biden was one of 85 senators to vote in favor.

In the 2000s, Biden called same-sex marriage a “state issue,” repeatedly saying “marriage is between a man and a woman”

Biden repeatedly reiterated his support for the Defense Of Marriage Act. As a senator in 2004 he stated, “This has long been a state issue, and it should remain that way.” In February 2004, Biden said he opposed President Bush’s proposed marriage amendment, but did so by describing it as unnecessary and touting his prior vote for the Defense Of Marriage Act.

“As President Bush said on a previous occasion, this issue should be left to the states. I agree. That’s why I voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a ‘union between one man and one woman’ and does not require any state to recognize a same-sex union sanctioned under the laws of another state,” he said, according to The News Journal.

Later that year, Biden said, “this has long been a state issue, and it should remain that way,” according to The News Journal.

In June 2006, Biden said he did not oppose a federal marriage constitutional amendment on substance, but that he opposed “the timing” of the amendment. Appearing on Anderson Cooper 360, host John Roberts asked, “are you more against the amendment itself or the timing of it?”

“I’m against the timing of it. Look, marriage is between a man and a woman. Tell me why that has to be put in the Constitution now?” Biden said.

Biden said he did not know whether a federal marriage amendment would be “writing discrimination into the Constitution” as Mary Cheney had characterized it. “You also have Mary Cheney and Russ Feingold both saying that, to pass this amendment, would be to write discrimination into the Constitution. Is this really writing discrimination into the Constitution?” Roberts asked on Anderson Cooper 360.

“Look, I don’t — I don’t know whether it would be writing discrimination into the Constitution… marriage has always been something we left to the states… We don’t pass a federal law telling you the conditions on which you can get married, who can marry you, how you can get married.”

That same year, on Meet The Press, Biden defended DOMA once again. Host Tim Russert asked Biden, “The president used his radio address yesterday, and tomorrow in the Rose Garden, to talk about a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.”

“You know, think about this. The world’s going to Hades in a handbasket… and we’re going to debate, the next three weeks, I’m told, gay marriage, a flag amendment, and God only knows what else… We already have a law, the Defense of Marriage Act. We’ve all voted—not, where I’ve voted, and others have said, look, marriage is between a man and a woman and states must respect that. Nobody’s violated that law, there’s been no challenge to that law. Why do we need a constitutional amendment? Marriage is between a man and a woman.”

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Biden refused to back gay marriage

Asked at a July 2007 campaign event if “in the next five years, you’re president, do you see gay marriage in the future?” Biden responded “I don’t.” “I have to ask you this because it does affect me and my family directly” an attended asked in Iowa. “But if, in the next five years, if you’re president, do you see gay marriage in the future?” Biden responded: “I don’t. Here’s what I do see. I see an absolute guarantee of civil union with the exact same rights. Now, here’s the dilemma. Here’s the dilemma. The truth of the matter is states have made legal, through licensing, the performance of marriage what religions have essentially consecrated. That’s how they view it,” according to Fox News.

During the 2008 vice presidential debate when asked if he would support gay marriage, then-Senator Biden said “[Neither] Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage,” referring to his running mate, according to Reuters.

At a debate that year, moderator Gwen Ifill asked Biden, “Let’s try to avoid nuance, Senator. Do you support gay marriage?”

“No,” Biden responded.

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