Texas Governor Rick Perry, Minnesota
Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum
are among the 5 presidential candidates who oppose gay marriage,
repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” (the policy set to expire on
September 20 that bans gay and bisexual troops from serving openly)
and laws that would prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual
orientation and gender identity.
According
to Marriage Equality USA, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and
Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter also uniformly oppose gay rights.
At Thursday's GOP debate, Santorum
chided Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Bachmann and Perry for their weak
opposition to gay marriage.
“This is the 10th
Amendment run amok,” Santorum said. “We have Ron Paul saying,
'What the states want to do. Whatever the states want to do under
the 10th Amendment is fine.' So, if the states want to
pass polygamy, that's fine. If the states want to impose
sterilization, that's fine. No, our country is based on moral laws,
ladies and gentlemen.”
“You have to fight in each state, and
that is where I disagree with Rick Perry; I disagree with Michele
Bachmann,” he later stated.
Yet Perry, who jumped into the GOP race
on Saturday, and Bachmann also oppose gay marriage and support a
constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union.
Of the 13 presidential candidates
listed on the group's chart, only Fred Karger, who is openly gay,
received a perfect score. President Barack Obama's positions on
marriage and workplace protections in the private sector are listed
as “maybe.” Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney might
support gay couples' right to adopt children and repeal of “Don't
Ask, Don't Tell.”
(Related: Michele
Bachmann's gay comments praised by GOProud's Chris Barron.)