Marco Rubio: Protecting Floridians’ Rights Is ‘A Stupid Waste Of Time’
Marco Rubio’s attacks on the rights of LGBTQ Floridians are nothing new. After shamelessly using the tragic mass shooting at Pulse Nightclub to launch his 2016 reelection campaign, Rubio has only doubled down on opposing basic freedoms and equality for the LGBTQ community.
Yesterday, Rubio called a bipartisan measure to protect marriage equality “a stupid waste of time,” and had said it wasn’t a “real” issue. Now leaders across the country are calling Rubio out. See below for more coverage:
Local 10 Miami: All of South Florida’s congressional delegation votes to protect same-sex marriage in effort to counter Supreme Court
- Florida Sen. Marco Rubio confirming to CNN Capitol Hill Reporter Manu Raju that he will vote no on the measure.
- “I do not think senator Rubio or Scott will do anything to protect marriage for same sex couples. You cannot rely on them in any way, you can usually rely on the opposite,” said Orlando Gonzales, Executive Director of SAVE.
MSNBC: Rubio makes misguided case against the Respect For Marriage Act
- Whether Rubio believes the Senate should tackle other issues or not, he’ll have an opportunity to protect marriage equality. Opposing the legislation because he doesn’t consider it worthy of his time is nonsensical.
- In November 2015, as part of his ill-fated presidential campaign, Rubio sat down with Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network, where the GOP senator made clear he wasn’t done fighting against equal marriage rights — even after the Supreme Court had issued its Obergefell ruling.
- “If you live in a society where the government creates an avenue and a way for you to peacefully change the law, then you’re called on to participate in that process to try to change it — not ignoring it, but trying to change the law,” the Florida Republican added. “And that’s what we’re endeavoring to do here. I continue to believe that marriage law should be between one man and one woman.”
- In other words, Rubio believed marriage equality was a “real” issue when he wanted to get rid of the civil right, though he now believes it’s not a “real” issue as others try to protect the civil right.
Vanity Fair: Republican Senators Insist There’s No Need To Protect Same-Sex Marriage Despite Literal Supreme Court Threat
- Take Senator Marco Rubio, for one. Polled for his stance on the legislation on Wednesday, the Florida senator told Insider he won’t be voting for a bill protecting same-sex marriage at the federal level because “there’s no threat to its status in America.” Which is, you guessed it, categorically false!
- In fact, the very reason people want to pass the Respect for Marriage Act is because Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas literally threatened last month to overturn the landmark ruling protecting same-sex marriage (as well as the right to contraception and same-sex sexual activity). Yet despite the fact that Thomas and his fellow christofascists on the Court have made it abundantly clear that they’re willing to strip away the rights of millions, Rubio believes anyone concerned about their right to marry the person of their choosing is a hysteric.
NY Magazine: Once Hysterical on Gay Marriage, Conservatives Are Now Incoherent
- If Rubio believes Thomas’s legal analysis is so crazy it will never win a majority, he is free to say so. And if he believes marriage equality is correct on the merits and deserves to maintain its status, he is free to say that, also. His inability to articulate either point shows the sorry state of a once-energetic conservative crusade.
CNN: Rep. Katherine Clark: “We have Marco Rubio just yesterday saying, ‘this is a stupid waste of time.’ It’s a stupid waste of time? When people’s rights, people’s families, their marriages, their medical care, all of this is on the line?