Antigay Watch List: The Worst Who Want Your Vote

Linda Lingle, U.S. Senate, Hawaii
Former Hawaii governor Linda Lingle, seeking election to the U.S. Senate, recently defended her decision to veto a civil unions bill in 2010 with supporters of the legislation gathered to watch. In a debate, her opponent, Marie Hirono, noted, “Before she vetoed it, she invited members of the LGBT leadership to join her. And they thought that she was going to sign that bill into law. And instead, right in front of them, the very group that had worked so hard to pass this legislation, she vetoed that bill. I thought that was extremely insensitive and disrespectful of their position.” Lingle responded that this was a contentious issue and difficult decision, and she had invited both supporters and opponents to join her. (Her successor as governor, Neil Abercrombie, signed a civil unions bill the following year.) Lingle also said she supports putting a state constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage before voters; when it looked like Hawaii courts would rule for marriage equality, the state took the intermediate step of a constitutional amendment allowing the legislature to define marriage, and it did so to the exclusion of gay couples. “Personally, I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Lingle said in the debate. “But I also think the people of Hawaii should be able to make that decision.”