Road to the White House: Compare the Candidates on Women's Rights Issues

Lesbian and Gay Rights: What They Say

George W. Bush:

 Opposes any legal same-sex union, whether civil union or marriage.

 Promotes traditional marriage initiatives, particularly aimed at poor women with children.

 Opposes gay adoption.

 Opposes including sexual orientation-based hate crimes in the federal hate crimes law.

John Kerry:

 Supports civil unions that grant full spousal rights to same-sex couples.

Opposes civil marriage for same-sex couples.

Supports adoption by lesbians and gay men.

Ralph Nader:

 Supports the full legalization of same-sex marriage and gay adoption.

Lesbian and Gay Rights: What They've Done

George W. Bush:

 Proposed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

 Proclaimed Oct. 12-18, 2003 as "Marriage Protection Week."

 Does not support the inclusion of sexual orientation in the definition of hate crimes.

John Kerry:

 Opposes the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

 Co-sponsored the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2003, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

 Voted against the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, one of a handful of senators to oppose the act, which says that states do not have to recognize marriages performed under other states' same-sex marriage laws.

 Kerry opposed the Clinton administration's discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and in 1993 was one of a few senators to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee against the policy.

 Voted in favor of legislation to expand the definition of hate crimes to include gender, sexual orientation and disability and to allocate $5 million to investigating and prosecuting hate crimes.

Ralph Nader:

None
List of Resources