Sarah Palin ‘tolerant’ of gays ‘choosing’ partners; Joe Biden claims Constitutional guarantee for same-sex benefits
Debate Moderator Gwen Ifil: Do you support, as they do in Alaska, granting same-sex benefits to couples?
Sen Joe Biden: Absolutely. Do I support granting same-sex benefits? Absolutely, positively. Look, in an Obama-Biden administration, there will be absolutely no distinction from a Constitutional stand-point or a legal stand-point between a same-sex and a heterosexual couple. The fact of the matter is that under the Constitution, we should be granted — uh, same-sex couples should be able to have visitation rights in hospitals, joint ownership of property, life insurance policies, etc. That’s only fair. It’s what the Constitution calls for. And so, we do support — we do support making sure that committed couples in a same-sex marriage are guaranteed the same Constitutional benefits as it relates to their property rights, their rights of visitation, their rights of insurance, their rights of ownership, as heterosexual couples do.
Ifil: Governor, would you be open to expanding that beyond Alaska to the rest of the nation?
Governor Sarah Palin: Well, not if it goes closer and closer to redefining the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman. And unfortunately, that’s sometimes where those steps lead. But, I also want to clarify — if there’s any kind of suggestion at all from my answer that I would be anything but tolerant of adults in America choosing their partners, their relationships that they deem — uh, best for themselves — you know, I am tolerant. And I have a very diverse family and group of friends, and even within that group, you would see some who may not agree with me on this issue — some very dear friends don’t agree with me on this issue. But in that tolerance, also, no one would ever propose — not in a McCain-Palin administration to do anything that prohibits, say, visitations in the hospital, or contracts being signed, negotiated between parties. But I will tell Americans straight up that I don’t support defining marriage as anything but between one man and one woman. And I think through nuances, we could go round and round about what that actually means, but I’m being straight-up with Americans as I can in my non-support for anything but tradition definition of marriage.
Ifil: Let’s try to avoid nuance, Senator. Do you support gay marriage?
Biden: No. Barack Obama, nor I support redefining from a civil side, what constitutes marriage. We do not support that. That is basically a decision that is to be left to the faiths and people who practice their faiths, determination what you call it. The bottom line is, I’m glad to hear the Governor, I’ll her her at her word, obviously. That she thinks there should be no civil rights distinction — none whatsoever, between a committed gay couple and a committed heterosexual couple. If that’s the case, we really don’t have a difference.
Ifil: [to Palin] Is that what you said?
Palin: Uh, you question to him was whether he supported gay marriage. And my answer is the same as his in — that I do not.
Ifil: Wonderful, you agree….
Vice presidential candidates Sen. Joe Biden [D-DE] and Gov. Sarah Palin [R-AK] answer questions about gay marriage and equal rights and benefits for gay couples at their only televised debate on this past Thursday night, October 2, 2009.
A quick historical note about Alaska’s same-sex benefits for state workers:
In Alaska, the debate over benefits for same sex couples is reported to have begun in the late 1990s when Alaskan voters passed a constitution amendment blocking gay marriage. In 2001 a lower court judge equated same-sex couples to unmarried heterosexual couples and she allowed a continued ban on benefits to unmarried couples. (Fox News) Nine gay employees and the ACLU appealed that case, and in 2005, the Alaskan Supreme Court concluded “that the public employers’ spousal limitations violate the Alaska Constitution’s equal protection clause,” and the Judges ordered, in June 2006, then Governor Frank Murkowski and the the state to follow a number of remedies by January 1, 2007. (Alaska State Government history of Same-Sex Domestic Partnerships)
Sarah Palin defeated Murkowski to become the new governor at the end of 2006, and in December reluctanly agreed to adopt same-sex partner benefits for state employees. (On the Issues) Governor Palin later vetoed a measure designed to deny the benefits to gay couples, but it is said that she only did so because allowing it to pass would not have been in compliance with the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Alaska Constitution — she was in favor of the legislation, allegedly because the Court decision went against the discriminatory will of the voters at large.
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