Tim Pawlenty on Civil Rights Republican MN Governor

Voted for GLBT protection; later favored repealing the law

Because of his yes vote, Pawlenty's conservative credentials were questioned a decade later when running for governor. He said he regretted the vote and favored repealing the law: "If I had to do it over again, I would have changed some things. The statute is not worded the way it should be. I said I regretted the vote later because it included things like cross-dressing, and a variety of behaviors that weren't based on sexual orientation, just a preference for the way they dressed or behaved. So it was overly broad. If you are a 3rd-grade teacher and you are a man and you show up on Monday as Mr. Johnson and you show up on Tuesday as Mrs. Johnson, that is a little confusing to kids."

Opposite-sex marriage is cornerstone of society

Pawlenty said in a 2002 debate that "opposite-sex marriage is the cornerstone of our society." In a 2009 interview, he affirmed his opposition to gay marriage rights: "My general view on all of this is that marriage is to be defined as being a union of a man and a woman. Marriage should be elevated in our society at a special level. I don't think all domestic relationships are the equivalent of traditional marriage. Early on we decided as a country and as a state that there was value in a man and a woman being married in terms of impact on children and the like, and we want to encourage that."