From Albatross to Litmus Test: Gay Rights and the Democratic Party

In the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Democratic presidential candidates met to discuss LGBTQ rights at a CNN town forum, mostly enunciating unequivocal support for recent policy concerns. It is hard to imagine a Democratic nominee that does not receive at least a passing grade from LGBTQ rights groups. Indeed, one reason for widespread distrust of presidential contender Tulsi Gabbard is her erstwhile activism against marriage equality in her home state of Hawaii, despite her insistence that she now supports it. But support for gay rights was not always a Democratic Party litmus test. At the 2007 counterpart to the recent CNN forum, only Mike Gravel supported marriage equality. <a href="https://medium.com/@cbaylor/from-albatross-to-litmus-test-gay-rights-and-the-democratic-party-part-i-3816ae9febc0">Click Here</a>