Post by quetee on Jul 8, 2022 4:47:51 GMT
Michigan Gubernatorial Candidates Want Marriage Equality Overturned
All five Republican candidates for Michigan governor debated Thursday night just over a month before the Republican primary and they had plenty to say about the LGBTQ+ community.
The hourlong sold-out event covered topics including drag queens, marriage equality, and God. There was a cash bar available for attendees, Michigan Advance reports.
The Brighter Michigan PAC, a right-wing political action committee, sponsored the debate.
Several Republican gubernatorial candidates called for the United States Supreme Court to reopen the door to state-level bans on marriage equality allowed under the landmark 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.
The debate included businessman Kevin Rinke, far-right activist Ryan Kelley, chiropractor Garrett Soldano, pastor Rev. Ralph Rebandt, and conservative media personality Tudor Dixon.
Soldano expressed support for same-sex "unions" in the debate but wished same-sex marriages were referred to differently due to his Catholic faith tradition's definition of marriage.
After nearly 50 years of protection for abortion rights, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month, casting doubt on the protected legal status of the marriages of LGBTQ+ people. A concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas urged the court to "correct the error" when cases upholding contraception, same-sex sexual activity, or same-sex marriage used similar legal logic.
Kelley called for the court to reconsider marriage equality as a right for Americans.
"They need to revisit it all" and "give the power back to the states," Kelley said during the debate.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is gay and married, is one of many marriage equality supporters concerned the state's conservative court could roll back "seminal precedents" that struck down bans across the country.
Last week, Erin Knott, executive director of Equality Michigan, told Bridge Michigan that the Roe decision suggests the High Court is determined to dictate social policy.
While the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, Michigan voters enacted an amendment to the state's constitution banning such marriages and civil unions in 2004.
All five Republican candidates for Michigan governor debated Thursday night just over a month before the Republican primary and they had plenty to say about the LGBTQ+ community.
The hourlong sold-out event covered topics including drag queens, marriage equality, and God. There was a cash bar available for attendees, Michigan Advance reports.
The Brighter Michigan PAC, a right-wing political action committee, sponsored the debate.
Several Republican gubernatorial candidates called for the United States Supreme Court to reopen the door to state-level bans on marriage equality allowed under the landmark 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.
The debate included businessman Kevin Rinke, far-right activist Ryan Kelley, chiropractor Garrett Soldano, pastor Rev. Ralph Rebandt, and conservative media personality Tudor Dixon.
Soldano expressed support for same-sex "unions" in the debate but wished same-sex marriages were referred to differently due to his Catholic faith tradition's definition of marriage.
After nearly 50 years of protection for abortion rights, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month, casting doubt on the protected legal status of the marriages of LGBTQ+ people. A concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas urged the court to "correct the error" when cases upholding contraception, same-sex sexual activity, or same-sex marriage used similar legal logic.
Kelley called for the court to reconsider marriage equality as a right for Americans.
"They need to revisit it all" and "give the power back to the states," Kelley said during the debate.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is gay and married, is one of many marriage equality supporters concerned the state's conservative court could roll back "seminal precedents" that struck down bans across the country.
Last week, Erin Knott, executive director of Equality Michigan, told Bridge Michigan that the Roe decision suggests the High Court is determined to dictate social policy.
While the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, Michigan voters enacted an amendment to the state's constitution banning such marriages and civil unions in 2004.
