During his announcement tour in early September, Fred Thompson told reporters that he had found a third way through the thicket of the gay marriage debate. He would not support amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage. But he did support amending the Constitution to prevent state or federal judges from legalizing marriage without the consent of state legislatures. He also wanted to amend the Constitution to make it clear that a same-sex marriage in one state did not have to be honored by any other states. "There have been no state legislatures that have affirmatively allowed gay marriages in the United States," he said on Sept. 7, as his campaign bus barreled through northern Iowa. "It's a judge-made problem."
His timing was unfortunate, because on the same day Thompson spoke those words, the California Legislature approved a bill to give gays and lesbians the right to marry, though the bill is likely to be vetoed by the governor. But Thompson's intent was clear. He was staking out a position to the right of Giuliani and McCain, without abandoning his belief that states should have autonomy to do what they want in a federal system. "A marriage is between a man and a woman, and that has been accepted through the millennia as the basis of civilization," he said. "But I am also a federalist."
At an event in Sioux City, he was asked by a voter to explain what he would do about sexual "deviancy." Again, he said government should take a mostly hands-off approach. "Society's position and the government position, and what the government ought to do to exercise the power of the federal government, is not necessarily the same thing," he said. On other gay-rights issues, he generally toes the larger Republican Party line. He opposes hate-crime laws to protect gays, opposes ENDA, and supports the military's policy as it stands today.
His timing was unfortunate, because on the same day Thompson spoke those words, the California Legislature approved a bill to give gays and lesbians the right to marry, though the bill is likely to be vetoed by the governor. But Thompson's intent was clear. He was staking out a position to the right of Giuliani and McCain, without abandoning his belief that states should have autonomy to do what they want in a federal system. "A marriage is between a man and a woman, and that has been accepted through the millennia as the basis of civilization," he said. "But I am also a federalist."
At an event in Sioux City, he was asked by a voter to explain what he would do about sexual "deviancy." Again, he said government should take a mostly hands-off approach. "Society's position and the government position, and what the government ought to do to exercise the power of the federal government, is not necessarily the same thing," he said. On other gay-rights issues, he generally toes the larger Republican Party line. He opposes hate-crime laws to protect gays, opposes ENDA, and supports the military's policy as it stands today.
In his short time as a candidate, Thompson has seemed to downplay most social issues. He is hesitant to speak about his own religion. Though he grew up in the Church of Christ, he does not regularly attend church in his present-day hometown of McLean, Va. Predictably, these positions are not good enough for the Focus on the Family's Dobson. "Isn't Thompson the candidate who is opposed to a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, believes there should be 50 different definitions of marriage in the U.S.?" Dobson wrote in a recent e-mail to supporters. "Not for me!"
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