CNN Kfile: on Civil Rights
Kelly Tshibaka:
Wrote anti-gay article in law school, no longer her view
Her most controversial story came from an October 11, 2001, article entitled "The Right Side: Coming out of Homosexuality." Tshibaka urged gay people to "not be controlled by the 'once-gay-always-gay-rhetoric' used to advance political agendas."
Tshibaka told CNN, "I strongly believe that we should treat all people with respect and dignity. The student article was assigned to me by an editor as a counterpoint piece about 20 years ago, and I don't hold that point of view today."
Source: CNN KFile, "Twilight," on 2022 Alaska Senate race
Apr 27, 2021
Tulsi Gabbard:
My time in the military changed my anti-gay views
Gabbard sought to explain her shift from advocating anti-gay policies in the early 2000s, saying her time in the military caused her to "go through some soul-searching.""I was raised in a very socially conservative home. My father is Catholic, he was
a leading voice against gay marriage in Hawaii at that time. Again, I was very young, but these are the values and beliefs that I grew up around," she said.
Gabbard said her views shifted when she deployed to the
Middle East, "where I saw firsthand the negative impact of a government attempting to act as a moral arbiter for their people, dictating in the most personal ways how they must live their lives."
"Race or religion or orientation, these were things that didn't matter, because we were focused on our mission of serving," she said.
Source: CNN KFile on 2019 SXSW conference in Austin
Mar 11, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
I never personally supported gay conversion therapy
CNN's KFile previously reported that Gabbard's father led an anti-gay organization that advocated for conversion therapy. She touted her involvement in the group during a state legislative run. But now, Gabbard said she "personally never supported any
kind of conversion therapy. I never advocated for conversion therapy. And frankly, I didn't even know what conversion therapy was until the last few years."
Source: CNN KFile on 2019 SXSW conference in Austin
Mar 11, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
Early 2000s: supported father's antigay rights group
Gabbard in the early 2000s touted working for her father's anti-gay organization, which mobilized to pass a measure against same-sex marriage in Hawaii and promoted controversial conversion therapy. During her run for state legislature in 2002,
Gabbard told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, "Working with my father, Mike Gabbard, and others to pass a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage, I learned that real leaders are willing to make personal sacrifices for the common good.
I will bring that attitude of public service to the legislature." Gabbard's father ran The Alliance for Traditional Marriage, a political action committee aimed at opposing pro-gay lawmakers and legislation that organized and spent more than
$100,000 to pass an amendment in 1998 that gave the Hawaii state legislature power to "reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples." The amendment to the state's constitution passed.
Source: CNN KFile, "Conversion Therapy," on 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 17, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
Actively supports equal rights on LGBTQ+ issues
[In response to her work in the early 2000s touted for her father's anti-gay organization, which mobilized to pass a measure against same-sex marriage in Hawaii and promoted controversial conversion therapy]: "Over the past six years in Congress,
I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to help work toward passing legislation that ensures equal rights and protections on
LGBTQ+ issues, such as the Equality Act, the repeal of DOMA, Restore Honor to Service members Act, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act,
the Safe Schools Improvement Act and the Equality for All Resolution. Much work remains to ensure equality and civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ Americans and if elected President, I will continue to fight for equal rights for all."
Source: CNN KFile, "Conversion Therapy," on 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 17, 2019
Page last updated: Oct 31, 2024