Sebelius not supportive of Civil Unions?

[monomach]

I had always just assumed that she toed the party line of "gays can't get married, but they can have a civil union granting all of the same rights as marriage (aka Marriage by any other name)." Seeing the obamasebelius.com registration thread today made me double check. I was shocked, On the positive side, she a) supports gay adoption and b) got Kansas' anti-discrimination laws to add gays and lesbians.

Unfortunately, the only thing on Sebelius re: Same-sex marriage and civil unions is this:

http://whereistand.com/kathleensebelius/163

Among the opponents was Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, who said she supported the existing state law and viewed it as sufficient.

So, basically, no need for a new ban on gay marriage and civil unions because she likes the old law that was already bigotted enough?

She's solid on the environment and abortion, but throwing gays and lesbians under the bus is lame. To top that off, assuming Barack serves two terms, she'll be old enough that she'd really only be able to serve one term as President after him. Shouldn't we have someone solid on our social issues and young enough to use the Vice Presidency as a springboard to higher office?

[anonymous171]

1. Doesn't Obama want to leave this kind of thing up to the states?

[monomach]

4. He wants to leave Gay Marriage up to the states, but he supports Civil Unions.

Looks like Sebelius isn't even with that.

[PM7nj]

2. .... it's Kansas.

:shrug:

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Gee thanks.

Where do you live? Let's look down upon your state next, okay?

[PM7nj]

13. That's not what I meant...

I was trying to say that Kansas is a very conservative state and I think it is unrealistic to expect their governor to be super progressive.

BTW, I live in New Jersey, the rest of the country does nothing but look down on us. I've heard it all...

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. I have never once read negative comments about New Jerssey here on DU

Kansas, however, is regularly slammed. As is Florida.

This shit gets old. There are many great progressives in Kansas. Thomas Frank is from here. So was Obama's mother and grandparents.

[LostinVA]

27. OMG -- there's bad stuff about NJ on here ALL the time

I'd say the Mid West, FL, and NJ are slammed the most on DU. And The South as a region. That makes every place but teh West and New England, I guess!

[AllentownJake]

30. If you want someone to slam New Jersey

Let me know I'll do it at anytime. :evilgrin:

Not a fan of my neighbors to the east.

[LostinVA]

31. We're not a fan of you either

Seriously, none of you can drive.

[thewiseguy]

3. Looks like she is out of veepstakes:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6662903

[monomach]

5. If he doesn't announce the VP until the convention, she'll have 3 days to get to Denver.

Her appearing in Iowa isn't a good reason to disbelieve it. Not like anyone else is doing huge VP rallies, either.

[thewiseguy]

7. The VP announcement will come this week

Most probably wednesday morning.

[monomach]

11. Link?

Yeah, Obama hasn't said that.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. It was on CBS news this morning

Obama announces today or tomorrow, McCain on the 29th.

[TheWraith]

6. Nothing is ever good enough for the purity test crowd.

In case you weren't paying attention, Sebelius was OPPOSING a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. State laws can be overturned pretty easily, amendments can't.

[monomach]

10. In case you weren't paying attention,

She approves of the state law discriminating against gays.

Would it just be purity crowd whining if it were African Americans or Jews seeking civil unions? Or women seeking the right to choose whether to have an abortion?

[LostinVA]

28. No, for everything except the last thing

GLBT and women's rights are often tossed under the bus here -- weird.

[TheWraith]

33. If you're really that clueless about politics, I can't help you.

Tell me how many people have been elected governor of Kansas by promising full equality for gays. Anybody, even somebody who believes fervently in equality is going to have to bend to the reality of their constituents. Using the fact that there's existing state law to argue against an amendment should not be taken for endorsing the current law. If she were actually in favor of that, why wouldn't she jump on board with the amendment and make political hay out of it rather than opposing it?

Bashing her for that stance suggests that you either really don't care about the facts, or are just unwilling to accept them.

[QC]

24. And nohing is ever too ugly for the cult of personality crowd. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. She wants it to be left to the states, and opposes a constitutional amendment

Makes sense to me.

[monomach]

12. ...and she opposes civil rights for gays.

Never voicing support for gay marriage or civil unions while voicing support for a law that outlaws gay marriage and civil unions = a bigot.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. That's bullshit

She is my governor. She does not oppose civil rights for gays, she wants to let states decide.

[brentspeak]

32. You sound very..."concerned"

[IndianaJones]

14. ok, aside from what she thinks, do you think civil rights issues should be left to the states?nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Is this about my opinion or what Sebelius thinks?

:shrug:

[Hippo_Tron]

15. LBJ, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore all sucked on social issues before obtaining national office

And then once they got there they were just as liberal as any other Democrat.

[monomach]

16. That doesn't mean she will.

That's just wishful thinking there.

[Hippo_Tron]

18. It's a pretty good logical and historical pattern actually

Red state Governors and Senators pander to their anti-choice anti gay rights constituents because it's impossible to be elected in their respective states without doing so. Then once their constituency isn't narrowed to a red state, they become far more progressive. I could go as far back as to Harry Truman who integrated the military as President and likely wouldn't have even gone near such a proposal as a Senator from Missouri.

But besides the history with this, the fact is that pro choice and pro gay rights voters hold a great amount of sway in Democratic Presidential Primaries. If VP Sebelius were to some day run for the top job she would face significant primary opposition if she did not move to the left on these issues and even if she got the nomination she would have an impossible time rallying the base if not moving to the left.

In short, it makes no political sense for national Democratic candidates to be anti gay rights or anti choice and that is why they never are.

[ilovemesomechickens]

17. she wants to get elected

nothing new to that dog and pony show.

ill think youll find if given more power, people tend to do as they think and less about the popularity of an issue.

just look at bush, he ran a campaign that made promises that are COMPLETELY the opposite of what hes actually done.

[TheDonkey]

20. I agree, she is from a bright red state. This is still a difficult subject for us to get around

[Ramonna Villota]

19. I can not

Say anything nice about her

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. She is a fabulous governor

Best we have had in my lifetime.

[NorthCarolina]

29. Extrapolate what you DO know

She supports gay adoption, so do you think it is logical to assume that while she supports gay adoption she opposes allowing them to form a family unit to foster that adoption? This gay man thinks Sebelius is a far far better choice than Bayh or Kaine with respect to the advancement of LGBT civil rights.