Joe Biden is gunning for 2020 president, but what’s his LGBTI record like?

Joe Biden

Former vice president Joe Biden announced today (25 April) that he’s seeking Democratic nomination to challenge President Trump in 2020.

In his third presidential bid, Biden is marshalling his over 40 years political experience in a campaign to be future leader of the US, CNN reported.

However, how does the contender stand on LGBTI rights? He might have officiated a marriage between two gay White House staffers, but what does his voting record look like?

Biden’s LGBTI voting record

Across his decades-long career as vice president and Delaware senator, Biden’s views on LGBTI areas have changed.

Back in 1996, Biden voted in favor of the Defence of Marriage Act which defined marriage as between a male and female. 10 years later, he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment.

But tides changed. When asked by David Gregory about his views on marriage equality in 2012, he was positive.

He said he was ‘absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties.

‘And quite frankly, I don’t see much of a distinction beyond that.’

This was big, considering he came out in favor of marriage equality before Obama did.

While he did vote in favor of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ he later said the courts should appeal it. Which it was under the Obama administration, in which he was Vice President for from 2009 to 2017.

After Trump announced a ban on trans people serving in the military in 2017, Biden tweeted: ‘Every patriotic American who is qualified to serve in our military should be able to serve. Full stop.’

Biden on Chechnya and Brunei

Two major atrocities that have defined LGBTI civil rights this decade have been Chechnya and Brunei.

In 2017, Biden denounced Chechnya authorities for their rounding-up, torturing, and murdering of LGBTI people.

He stated his hope that the Trump administration confronts Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov for their ‘egregious violations of human rights.’

While he condemned Brunei’s government for introducing capital punishment for LGBTI people. He tweeted: ‘Stoning people to death for homosexuality or adultery is appalling and immoral.

‘There is no excuse – not culture, not tradition – for this kind of hate and inhumanity.’

Could Biden be president?

When you Google ‘Joe Biden,’ the next word the search engine predicts you will type is ‘age.’

Biden is vaulting himself into a blue-tie wearing field of hopefuls that are getting younger and younger. Fellow candidate Pete Buttigieg is only 37, compared to Biden’s age of 76.

If voters elect him, he would be 78 on Inauguration Day in 2021.

Some see Biden as a heir to former President Barack Obama. A brand Biden is eager to adopt considering he labelled himself an ‘Obama-Biden Democrat’ back in early April.

As he joins a heated race with 19 other Democrat candidates, voters may be wary of Biden’s four previous national bids. Two presidential campaigns in 1988 and 2008, and two as Obama’s running mate.

Biden’s tact for the race remains unclear. Whether he will seek to rebuild bridges between the parties or satisfy the Democrat’s hunger for a challenger to Trump.

However, as he offers himself as a leader for a country wracked by internal conflict, political pundits will have to wait to see if his moderation can indeed attract a wide cross-section of voters.

See also

Joe Biden officiates second gay marriage – see pics of the happy couple here

Joe Biden launches project to encourage families to accept their LGBTI kids

Cynthia Nixon calls out Joe Biden for describing Mike Pence as ‘decent’

 

Author: Josh Milton

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‘Morning Joe’ Blasts Hypocrite Franklin Graham for Calling on Pete Buttigieg to Repent for Being Gay: ‘Just Shut Up. You Are a Disgrace’ — WATCH

Morning Joe’s Mike Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough went off on evangelist Franklin Graham, who called on Mayor Pete Buttigieg to repent for being gay.

Tweeted Graham on Wednesday: “Presidential candidate & South Bend Mayor @PeteButtigieg is right—God doesn’t have a political party. But God does have commandments, laws & standards He gives us to live by. God doesn’t change. His Word is the same yesterday, today & forever. Mayor Buttigieg says he’s a gay Christian. As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized. The Bible says marriage is between a man & a woman—not two men, not two women. The core of the Christian faith is believing and following Jesus Christ, who God sent to be the Savior of the world—to save us from sin, to save us from hell, to save us from eternal damnation.”

Shouted Scarborough: “Just shut up Franklin Graham! You are a disgrace! You are a disgrace for normalizing Donald Trump’s behavior…”

“Here’s a man, who along with so many people in my community, the evangelical community, attacked Bill Clinton for his personal failings,” added Scarborough. “They are now using their position, these evangelical leaders, they are now using their positions to gain political power and apologize for Donald Trump. Now suddenly Franklin Graham’s talking about lifestyles and sinning, and a guy who has gone through a very difficult personal journey to figure out who he really is, he’s criticizing them for that? It’s not a lifestyle choice. Anyone who’s heard Pete Buttigieg talk knows that.”

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In Open Letter, ‘Empire’ Cast Pleads with Producers to Bring Back Jussie Smollett: ‘He is Filled with Integrity’

Empire / Fox

Six members of the Empire cast have written a letter to producers of the show, pleading with them to bring Jussie Smollett back for the sixth season.

“We are confident in his lawyer’s assurance that the case was dismissed because it would not have prevailed,” they say in the letter, which you can read in full below.

On Wednesday, Brothers Ola and Abel Osundairo filed a federal lawsuit against Smollett’s attorneys Mark Geragos, Tina Glandian and the Geragos & Geragos law firm, saying the lawyers defamed them.

The brothers told police they were paid by Smollett to stage the hate crime against the Empire actor. Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct on March 6 for falsifying reports that he was the victim of a hate crime. Those charges were abruptly dropped on March 26 and the case sealed with no new evidence that materially changed the facts presented in the case.

The Empire cast letter:

Dear Charlie, Dana, Michael, Lee, Danny, Francie, Brian, Sanaa, Dennis, and Brett,

Together, as a united front, we stand with Jussie Smollett and ask that our co-star, brother and friend be brought back for our sixth season of Empire.

We understand the past months have been difficult to process—sometimes the headlines brought more confusion than clarity, yet we now have a conclusion to this ordeal. Throughout Empire’s five seasons working with Jussie and watching how he has conducted himself throughout this traumatic event, we have come to know not just the character Jussie portrays, but also truly come to know Jussie’s personal character. He is kind. He is compassionate. He is honest and above all he is filled with integrity. He is also innocent and no longer subject to legal uncertainty with the criminal charges against him having been dropped. We are confident in his lawyer’s assurance that the case was dismissed because it would not have prevailed.

Jussie has shown us on and off the set who he really is as a leader. In addition to being a caring friend and cast member who treats every crew member with love and respect, he has spent time with our families and individually supported each of us. These recent and detailed letters from The Black AIDS Institute, the Rainbow Push Coalition and the City Lights Orchestra shine a light on his commitment to true community service. Just a few months ago, Jussie partnered with the Trevor Project to provide support to their volunteer program that allows LGBTQ youth in crisis access to vital counseling services. Prior to that, he gave every cent from his sold out world tour to numerous charities. He has adopted a school in Chicago, taught songwriting to incarcerated youth at the Cook County Jail last year and bought the family of Kayden Kinckle, a six-year-old, double amputee, a wheelchair accessible van due to his school district not having a wheelchair accessible school bus. He has traveled to South Africa for service as well as to Jamaica to quietly meet about the safety of LGBTQ youth. This was all done without posturing, the need for attention or even discussion.

This is the Jussie we know.

It’s clearer every day that the extreme political climate in our country has only made our system of justice and the court of public opinion more unjust.

It is why now, more than ever, we must stand together as a family. A family is there for us in good times and bad. It can cut through the noise and confusion to understand that there is a person in the center of all this who deserves nothing more than to move forward with his life. We understand that this show is a business. And that business matters to us as well. We are confident our fans will welcome our “Jamal” back into the Empire family as enthusiastically as we will.

That is why we write today to ask you to keep Jussie on the cast so that we can all put this behind us and move forward. Thank you for taking time to hear us. It’s our hope that together we will move into our sixth season as the entire Empire family should.

SINCERELY,

Terrence Howard
Taraji P Henson
Bryshere Y. Gray
Trai Byers
Gabourey Sidibe
Nicole Ari Parker

(via deadline)

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