CNN LGBT Town Hall: on Civil Rights

Amy Klobuchar: Collect data on GLBT issues so we can persuade Congress

You can, of course, stop this highly discriminatory and anti-patriotic policy of the Trump administration which bans trans people from serving in the military. You can do that yourself. You can do so many other things when it comes to changing the Department of Education policies and other discrimination policies.

And then I would pass the Equality Act in the first year. Those are high priorities for me. And you've got to do some by changing the dialogue in those first 100 days and some are the long term to get them done through Congress.

Amy Klobuchar: Throughout career, fighting hate crimes a priority

KLOBUCHAR: In my first job as the DA in Minnesota's biggest county, I made hate crimes a major priority. I was invited to the White House because of that, to introduce President Clinton when he unveiled the Matthew Shepherd bill. When I got to the Senate, we actually passed that bill and got all of those other things passed that I mentioned and introduced. So for me, it's a major priority.

Amy Klobuchar: Ban conversion therapy; it makes no sense at all

KLOBUCHAR: Yes. I think we know this makes no sense at all. We know this isn't the right thing to do. We've seen some of the bad practices, bad policies. It is role models. It is education. And it is making sure that we fight at every level, yes, at the federal level, but also the state and local levels.

Amy Klobuchar: Yes to federal law that allows third gender on documents

KLOBUCHAR: Yes. I will. There is a lot of work we need to do, all over the country, with driver's licenses. Not every state has some of the provisions that California has in place and just work on a state-by-state basis to make those changes.

Beto O`Rourke: Conversion therapy for gay children is tantamount to torture

O'ROURKE: It should be illegal. As president we will seek to outlaw it everywhere in this country. In my opinion, this is tantamount to torture, a torture that we're visiting on children who are absolutely defenseless.

Q: What should the penalty be?

O'ROURKE: We're going to make sure that whatever the penalty is, it is steep enough to dissuade anybody from entering into this practice or being able to torture kids with the kind of impunity that we have seen so far. And we're also going to recognize that these kind of practices, in addition to the immediate torture that that child or that person feels, also adds to other challenges that we have. So, yes, we will outlaw it, and, yes, we will ensure that there are penalties stiff enough, enforcement vigorous enough to make sure that it does not continue.

Cory Booker: Blacks were fractions of human, in original Constitution

Cory Booker: We must enforce equal rights in schools

BOOKER: I will change the Trump administration's guidance back to what the Obama administration's guidance was... that schools should allow people to use bathrooms that conform with their gender identity. We must use our Department of Justice and the Department of Education's civil rights division to go after schools that are denying people equal rights and equal protections.

Cory Booker: Always fights for LGBTQ and will pass Equality Act

BOOKER: I have spent my life working on LGBTQ issues. I am one of the lead original sponsors of the Equality Act. All of us swear an oath that we'll be a nation of liberty and justice for all. Those are aspirational words until every LGBTQ American has equal rights and I will get the Equality Act passed in our country.

Elizabeth Warren: If you believe in one-man-one-woman, marry just one woman!

WARREN: I'm going to assume it's a guy who said that and I'm going to say, "Then just marry one woman. I'm cool with that, assuming you can find one."

Q: You grew up conservative in a conservative household. You were Republican by party for many years. Was there ever a time that you felt differently about this issue, in particular, about same-sex marriage?

WARREN: No, I don't think so. I mean, it may have been the case; I don't have notes from when I was a little kid. To me, it's about what I learned in the church I grew up in. First song I ever remember singing is, "They are yellow, black, and white; they are precious in his sight; Jesus loves all the children of the world." And to me, that is the heart of it--it truly is about the preciousness of each and every life. It is about the worth of every human being.

Joe Biden: Raised in 1960s to treat homosexuality as basic love

BIDEN: Barack knew my position. Back in 1963, my dad drove me [to a downtown city] and two well-dressed men kissed one another as I was opening the door. And I hadn't seen that before. And I looked at my dad, and he looked at me and said, "it's simple. They love each other. It's just basic. There is nothing complicated about it." That's how I was raised, for real. And Barack knew that. And he knew that if I was going to be a good boy until the administration moved unless I was asked--no one ever doubts I mean what I say. The problem is I sometimes say all that I mean.

Joe Biden: Pass Equality Act, enforce Civil Rights Act to protect LGBTQ

BIDEN: We have to pass the Equality Act. That's important because it would change a whole range of things. This is a civil rights issue, protected by the Civil Rights Act, and we should focus on how to enforce that. My Justice Department will do that. Lastly, I think that it's important we start early and educate the population.

Joe Biden: Yes to transgender in military and right to do as others do

BIDEN: If I were president, you would not have to choose. The fact of the matter is transgender men and women should be able to do anything anybody else can do. There should be no difference.

Kamala Harris: I performed same-sex marriages in 2004, AND later ones

HARRIS: It was my joy.

A: How will you leverage your liberal Californian perspective when reaching out to voters in small conservative areas?

HARRIS: I'll tell them the story of Valentine's weekend in 2004. Back when a lot of Democrats were talking about civil unions, in February of 2004, I was performing marriages. I arrived at San Francisco City Hall that day, it was a Saturday, Valentine's weekend, and wrapped around the entire city block were families of every race, of every size, of every age, balloons and teddy bears and gifts, and there was something about arriving there that day that, when you have a group of people that is so large who are so full of pure joy in one place, you can feel it. Because it was a day where people who love each other had the ability for their love to be recognized by law. We must respect and always encourage these kinds of loving relationships.

Kamala Harris: End unequal treatment under law by sexual orientation

HARRIS: How can we defend that our LGBTQ brothers and sisters are treated differently under the law when they walk into their place of work? I will fight for equality. We saw great success in terms of marriage. But there is still not full equality for members of the LGBTQ community, and that relates to housing, it relates to employment, it relates to education, and many other issues.

Kamala Harris: Protect those who are more vulnerable to hate

HARRIS: I will put resources into ensuring that all people are safe, with a particular understanding of some of the most vulnerable communities. We know certain populations are more vulnerable to hate based on other people's prejudice and racism and hateful thoughts. And we as a society must acknowledge the truth of that and then make sure that we create safe communities in which they can exist.

Pete Buttigieg: I knew I was different long before I knew I was gay

BUTTIGIEG: What it was like was a civil war, because I knew I was different long before I was ready to say that I was gay and long before I was able to acknowledge that that was something that I didn't have power over. I think you spend so much time as you grow up learning the things that you can control or trying to control things, and there are some things that you don't. Learning to accept that and let alone learning that it didn't have to be a bad thing, that took me a long time. I so admire people who are coming out at young ages, but also recognize that there's no right age or right way or right time to come out. I think people are ready when they're ready. And for me, I was well into my 20s before I was really ready to say even to myself that I was gay. But even [after coming out to friends] I wasn't ready to come out to the world.

Pete Buttigieg: An Equality Act will fight discrimination on many fronts

BUTTIGIEG: Even if the Supreme Court upholds the idea that the Civil Rights Act applies to discrimination against, for example, same-sex couples in the workplace, we've still got a long way to go when it comes to other forms of discrimination, for housing, public accommodation. That is why we urgently need an Equality Act. I will fight for that, and I will sign it the moment that it hits my desk.