During a Friday night forum focused on LGBTQ issues, Biden seemed to recoil from the direct questioning from Lyz Lenz, a Cedar Rapids Gazette columnist.
In a question-and-answer session, Lenz repeatedly pressed Biden about his past votes for the Defense of Marriage Act, the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that forbade openly gay people from serving and his statement earlier this year that Vice President Mike Pence was “a decent guy.”
Biden sought to defend himself, reminding the audience in a steamy auditorium that he supported same-sex marriage before President Barack Obama. “I didn’t have to evolve,” he said.
Then, before an audience of 700 volunteers, activists and voters, called Lenz “a lovely person,” prompting her to reply, “just asking the questions people want to know.
Offstage after their exchange, she wrote on Twitter, Biden called her “a little sweetheart.”
“I interpreted it as a little condescending,” Lenz said in a backstage interview, echoing the immediate criticism of some prominent feminists on social media.
Supporters of Biden said Lenz’s questions included a series of inaccuracies. His supporters said he didn’t back “don’t ask, don’t tell” and voted for an amendment to remove the measure from a broader bill in 1993. They also argue that she misrepresented the impact of the 1994 crime bill that he championed.
Biden had already responded to criticism of his comments about Pence earlier this year, writing on Twitter shortly after his initial remark that “there is nothing decent about being anti-LGBTQ rights, and that includes the vice president.”
The forum, hosted by advocacy group GLAAD, marked the first extended public discussion of LGBTQ issues in the 2020 Democratic primary race, which went largely unmentioned in the Democratic debates so far despite the group representing a loyal bloc within the Democratic Party.
The focus on candidates’ past departures from contemporary progressive politics stemmed in large part from the lack of daylight between most of the major candidates on issues of LGBTQ equality: Nearly all back banning conversion therapy for minors; rolling back the spread of rules that allow religious businesses to decline serving LGBTQ customers; and ending the Trump administration transgender military ban. Most have promised to pass the Equality Act, legislation opposed by the White House that would bolster the list of protected classes under civil rights law to include discrimination based on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
“It’s about time we had a woke president on these issues,” said Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, “so we see everyone for the equal dignity and equal citizenship we all have.”
The candidates boasted about their accomplishments — large and small — on behalf of LGBTQ Americans.
Booker noted that as mayor of Newark he vowed not to officiate any weddings until everyone had the right to wed. Sen. Elizabeth Warren opened her appearance by reading the names of 18 trans women of color who have been killed this year.
Biden said he has been sympathetic to same-sex couples since he was a boy, when, he said, he and his father witnessed two men kissing while disembarking from the train station in Wilmington, Delaware.
“He said, ‘Joey, it’s simple,’” Biden said. “They love each other.”
In a historically diverse field, the LGBTQ community has celebrated their own record-breaking first: Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, the first openly gay man to mount a major campaign for president.
Though Buttigieg has collected significant financial support from the leaders in the gay community, some have begun to question his commitment to their causes. While Buttigieg frequently references his husband, Chasten, at campaign events and told his coming out story on the debate stage last week as an example of resiliency, he hasn’t placed LGBTQ equality at the center of his campaign.
He faced questions about a ban on gay men donating blood, pointing out that as mayor he couldn’t participate in a blood drive sponsored by his office.
“It’s an example, one of many examples, of the exclusions in this country,” he said. “We are still living with the long tail of prejudices.”
Other candidates also came with long records to tout. Biden, a reliable LGBTQ ally, frequently points to his early support of gay marriage, noting his decision to break with the Obama administration and publicly endorse the policy in 2012. Obama followed a few days later.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii faced questions about her history of anti-gay stances, including decrying “homosexual extremists” when her home state debated whether to legalize civil unions more than a decade ago. Gabbard has apologized for her past statements and said she no longer holds those views.
“My record speaks for itself,” she said, citing her history of serving with LGBTQ people in the military and congressional record of supporting equality measures.
About 5% of voters in the four early Democratic primary states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — identify as LGBTQ, according to data collected by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ rights organization. Another 23% prioritize LGBTQ-inclusive policies when voting, according to the group.
The event is the first of two forums hosted by LGBTQ organizations to question the candidates on their views. A second event, hosted by Human Rights Campaign in Los Angeles, will be broadcast on CNN next month.
This article originally appeared in
.