As the 2016 presidential race begins, we're learning that one leading Republican candidate wants to have it both ways – and has flipped and flopped accordingly. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush wants to appear tolerant on the marriage equality issue, while at the same time signal to his conservative base that he's opposed to it. This week the issue came to the fore as Florida began allowing same-sex couples to wed – becoming the 36th state to do so – and Bush has found code words he can use to appease his supporters: "religious liberty." As several pundits, gay and straight, have pointed out, by using the term, Bush gains instant credibility with his base.
Mainstream reporters, however, haven't quite picked up on the finer point of Bush's nuanced statement, which he made to the New York Times. In it, Bush appeared to be more sympathetic to the nuptials now taking place in his state.
"We live in a democracy, and regardless of our disagreements, we have to respect the rule of law," Bush said in the statement issued Monday. "I hope that we can show respect for the good people on all sides of the gay and lesbian marriage issue – including couples making lifetime commitments to each other who are seeking greater legal protections and those of us who believe marriage is a sacrament and want to safeguard religious liberty."
That statement is far softer than the one he first gave to a Miami newspaper. On Sunday, he told the Miami Herald , "It ought be a local decision – I mean, a state decision. The state decided. The people of the state decided. But it's been overturned by the courts, I guess."
Since the courts are the place where laws are upheld or overturned, we're not sure what Bush meant by his statement to the Herald , unless he was trying to drop the old trope of "activist judges" as appeasement to marriage equality opponents.
While groups like the Human Rights Campaign praised Bush's Times statement, it remains to be seen how supportive Bush really is.
Religious liberty, after all, is what the owners of Hobby Lobby relied on when they challenged the Affordable Care Act and took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in their favor last year. In its decision, the court allowed the privately held family company to deny certain health coverage for employees under the company's health plan by saying the owners have religious objections to providing the coverage. (There's the religious liberty code.)
LGBT legal activists have rightly called the decision a "dangerous and radical departure from existing law," saying it could provide a means for employers to discriminate against LGBT people by denying coverage for such things as reproductive insemination, gender reassignment treatments, or HIV prevention efforts. In fact, several states have attempted to pass so-called religious liberty laws to allow businesses not to provide services for same-sex couples, such as catering or flowers for weddings.
Democrats, however, aren't buying the new Bush. "It took Jeb Bush 69 words to say absolutely nothing – 69 words not to say, 'I support marriage equality.' Nothing's changed," Mo Elleithee, communications director for the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement. "At the end of Bush's statement, he still had the same position: he opposes the right of gay and lesbian Floridians – and all LGBT Americans – to get married and adopt children. If he wants to tell us he's changed his position, great. But this was not that statement. It was typical Jeb Bush."
As Bush continues exploring a presidential bid, he needs to realize that this is not 2012 or even 2008. Today, a majority of states allow same-sex couples to marry, and that's largely because judges have determined that the ballot amendments passed in the days when Bush's brother, George, was president aren't worth the paper they're printed on and are, in fact, unconstitutional. By the time the 2016 presidential race actually takes place, the Supreme Court may very well conclude that marriage is marriage, no matter whether you're gay or straight.
San Jose moves into 21st century
Kudos to new San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who's been sworn in as the new leader of the Bay Area's largest city. Liccardo hadn't even officially taken over when he did the one thing his predecessor refused to do: sign on to the Mayors for the Freedom to Marry campaign. That simple act, done online, speaks volumes about Liccardo's support of the LGBT community, which suffered under repeated rebuffs from former Mayor Chuck Reed.
We never understood why Reed, a Democrat, was so adamantly opposed to marriage equality, or why it took years for him to personally meet with members of the city's LGBT community – only to tell them he wouldn't support same-sex marriage. But Liccardo has delivered new hope for improved relations between the community and City Hall, and that's a great way to start the new year.