Issue Position: LGBT Rights

Issue Position

Equal Under the Law: Protecting The Rights of LGBT Americans

What's Wrong

Currently, Americans in same-sex relationships are denied inheritance rights, hospital visitation rights, equal pension and health care benefits, and all of the other legal protections that the government grants married couples.
Alexi's Plan to Make it Right

Alexi believes that all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation, are part of the American family, and that the federal government should extend the same rights and responsibilities to all of its citizens.
Marriage Equality

* While marriage as a religious institution should be governed by people's faith and the tenets of their religion, marriage as a civil institution should be governed by principles of fairness.
* Civil marriage should be equal for all people and provide the same protections under the law, with all legal rights and responsibilities.
* Alexi supports the right of individual states to give same-sex couples the right to marry, and would work to ensure that the federal government recognizes these marriages by supporting the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell

* Brave men and women who are willing to fight and die for our country should be asked only one question: can they do the job? That is why Alexi supports the repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Hate Crimes

* Hate crimes target individuals, but inflict pain on entire communities. All people are entitled to live in dignity without fear of violence. Alexi fully supports the recently-signed Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention/Matthew Shepard Act, which increases the federal government's power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence and expands the law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

Promote Employment Non-Discrimination and Tax Equity

* Workers should be evaluated on their ability to do a job, not on their identities. Alexi supports efforts, modeled after existing civil rights and disabilities legislation, to prohibit workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. As State Treasurer, he ended years of a misguided policy in his office by extending health coverage to domestic partners. As a U.S. Senator, he would also work to end the double taxation of couples.

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