POLITICS

What we know about Gov. Mike Pence's position on gay rights over the years

Tony Cook, and Chelsea Schneider
IndyStar
Gov. Mike Pence signs the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act on March 26, 2015.

From his actions as an Indiana Congressman to now as the state's top executive, Gov. Mike Pence has remained firm in his support of traditional marriage — even in the face of rapidly-shifting public opinion on gay rights.

During his State of the State address on Jan. 12, Pence made it clear he wasn't going to deviate from his religious conservative ideology as a debate rages in the Indiana General Assembly over whether to extend state civil rights protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers.

In his speech, the governor said he believed "no one should be harassed or mistreated because of who they are, who they love, or what they believe," but he also said he wouldn't support any legislation that would reduce religious freedoms.

Now the question is: What will governor do if legislation providing LGBT protections lands on his desk? And whatever position he takes, can his re-election campaign withstand the heat?

Here's what we know about Pence's positions on gay rights issues over the years:

Religion is a big influence

Pence was raised in an Irish Catholic family in Columbus, Ind., where he and his three brothers served as altar boys. As a young adult, Pence met his future wife, Karen, at an evangelical Christian church and he became a born-again Christian.

Homosexuality is typically considered a sin in both of those traditions.

Pence has remained deeply religious, often describing himself as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order."

"I would say that my Christian faith and my relationship with Karen are the two most dominant influences in my life today," he told The Star in 2012.

Socially conservative activism

In the early 1990s, Pence was a board member for the Indiana Family Institute, a conservative advocacy group that has long opposed gay rights. At the time, the organization was led by Bill Smith, who would later become Pence's chief of staff in Congress and during his first two years as governor. Smith is now a Pence campaign consultant.

The governor maintains close ties to IFI and speaks frequently at the group's events. "I will never waver in my belief in the importance of traditional marriage to our society and our community and the people of this great state," he told the audience at IFI's 25th anniversary banquet in 2014.

He opposed gay rights in Congress

Pence was a staunch opponent of gay rights during his 12 years in Congress. In case after case, he cited worries about gay rights impeding on the religious freedoms of the faithful.

In 2000, his campaign website declared he wouldn't support federal funding to care for people living with HIV/AIDS unless money was cut to programs "that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus." He advocated instead for programs that would seek to change "sexual behavior."

In 2007, Pence worried that a bill to protect gays and lesbians from workplace discrimination could be used to discriminate against Christians. "If an employee keeps a Bible in his or her cubicle, if an employee displays a Bible verse on their desk, that employee could be claimed by a homosexual colleague to be creating a hostile work environment," he said on the floor of the U.S. House.

In 2009, he opposed efforts to expand the definition of a hate crime to include the victim's sexual orientation, fearing that a pastor's sermon condemning gay sex could be considered hate speech. "This will have a chilling effect on religious expression, from the pulpits, in our temples, in our mosques and in our churches," he said. "And it must be undone."

Pence was an outspoken champion of a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. In multiple floor speeches, he said marriage was "ordained by God."

He also opposed President Barack Obama's decision to end the "don't ask, don't tell" military policy that prevented openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the military.

He expressed disappointment when the Defense of Marriage Act was overturned

In the summer of 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage for federal purposes as between one man and one woman. Pence quickly expressed disappointment.

"I believe marriage is the union between a man and a woman and is a unique institution worth defending in our state and nation. For thousands of years, marriage has served as the glue that holds families and societies together and so it should ever be," he said.

While the ruling struck down the federal same-sex marriage ban, it allowed state bans to stay in place. Pence applauded this and called for an amendment to Indiana's constitution banning same-sex marriage.

When same-sex marriage was legalized in Indiana, he sought to block it

When U.S. District Judge Richard Young ruled in June 2014 that Indiana's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, Pence backed Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s effort to appeal the ruling on behalf of the state. A spokeswoman for Pence said at the time that Pence supported the effort to “defend Indiana’s right to define the institution of marriage for the residents of our state.”

He wanted to ban same-sex marriage in Indiana's constitution

In 2014, Pence threw his support behind an amendment to Indiana's constitution that would have banned same-sex marriage. Even some of Pence's fellow Republicans felt the measure went too far. They noted that same-sex marriage was already prohibited in state statute and that the amendment's second sentence also would have barred civil unions.

Despite Pence's wishes, the GOP-controlled legislature dropped the second sentence. That effectively killed the measure because constitutional amendments must pass the legislature with the exact same language during two different sessions before going to the public for a final vote.

He was an early supporter of the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Before it ignited a national firestorm, Pence publicly supported the religious objections bill as it went through the legislative process during the 2015 General Assembly session. Controversy over the handling of RFRA swirled when Pence signed the measure into law during a private ceremony. Pictures from the ceremony circulated on social media showing Pence posing with individuals dressed in religious garb, with a Tweet that said the governor signed the bill to “ensure religious liberty is fully protected.” Those images served to stoke the fear that the bill, which sets a judicial standard to weigh religious objections, could allow discrimination, particularly against gays and lesbians. Those fears grew when Pence appeared on ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, where he said he stood by the newly-signed religious objections bill. Pence told Stephanopoulos: "What I am for is protecting, with the highest standards in our courts, the religious liberty of Hoosiers. I signed the bill, we're going to continue to explain it to people who don't understand it, and if possible, we will find a way to amplify what this bill really is in the legislative process.”

He stood by RFRA as national outcry over the measure exploded

Following the Stephanopoulos interview, the business community and LGBT activists heaped criticism on the state, and Indiana quickly became the focus of national media attention. Conventions announced plans to relocate from the Hoosier state. A handful of governors and other elected leaders announced travel bans to Indiana over the law. The tech giant, Salesforce, cancelled employee and customer travel to the state. Meanwhile, Pence appeared on Fox and Friends to say that while he still stood by RFRA that lawmakers would clarify the measure. He also penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal where he wrote: "I abhor discrimination. I believe in the Golden Rule that you should 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' If I saw a restaurant owner refuse to serve a gay couple, I wouldn't eat there anymore," Pence wrote in the piece. The result: Legislative leaders and Pence passed through a “fix” to the law that bans its use for discrimination and arguably set the state for this year’s civil rights discussion.

He again expressed disappointment with the U.S. Supreme Court – this time when the court legalized same-sex marriage across the country

This summer when the nation’s high court issued its landmark ruling that legalized same-sex marriage across the country, Pence said he was “disappointed that the Supreme Court failed to recognize the historic role of the states in setting marriage policy.”

"Nevertheless, our administration will continue to uphold the rule of law and abide by the ruling of the Court in this case,” Pence said. “Under our system of government, our citizens are free to disagree with decisions of the Supreme Court, but we are not free to disobey them. As we move forward as a state and a nation, Hoosiers may be assured that our Administration will respect the law and the dignity and worth of every Hoosier and every Hoosier family."

He wrote letters to the Indy Pride Festival and a memorial service for transgender people

Pence wrote a short welcome letter over the summer before the Indy Pride Festival, welcoming attendees to Indianapolis. But he penned a much longer letter to Christ Church Cathedral as the congregation prepared to remember transgender people in November who died in violence. In the letter, Pence wrote, “As you gather at Christ Church Cathedral in prayer for the families and friends of those who were lost, let us always strive to live out Christ’s admonition to love others as we would want to be loved.”

He spoke more about protecting religious rights than LGBT rights in his State of the State address

After staying silent on the issue for months, Pence sided with shielding religious rights in the contentious statewide debate over whether to protect LGBT Hoosiers from discrimination. He cautioned lawmakers to protect religious liberties as required by the state Constitution in any civil rights proposal they sent to him. In balancing the two interests, he said they could not compromise on religious freedom. "As you go about your work on this and other issues, know that I will always give careful consideration to any bill you send me, but legislation must be consistent with the Indiana Constitution," Pence said.

What we don’t know

While Pence drew a line on protecting religious interests, he did not say what he would support in terms of LGBT rights. He did not advocate for or against any specific proposal, nor did he explicitly say he would veto legislation if it came with religious safeguards. With Senate Republican proposals under discussion to expand LGBT protections with exemptions for religious objectors, if lawmakers pass legislation, it remains unclear how Pence will act.

Star reporters Chris Sikich, Maureen Groppe, Stephanie Wang, Tim Evans and Ryan Sabalow contributed.