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Anti-LGBT Republican Scott Walker Announces He Will Run For President

Anti-LGBT Republican Scott Walker Announces He Will Run For President

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Walker is the latest anti-LGBT Republican to announce he is running for the White House.

Decidedly anti-LGBT Conservative Scott Walker entered the crowded Republican presidential primaries via social media this morning, with tweets and facebook posts announcing his candidacy. The Wisconsin governor will personally kick off his bid for the White House with a campaign event later this afternoon.

Walker's tweets announcing his campaign focused on fighting and winning.

Walker called on supporters to change their profile pictures or avatars to a modified U.S. flag that will apparently serve as a campaign symbol.

His campaign also released a video on Facebook that highlights his political history and makes his case why he would be the best candidate to secure the nomination.

Touting his conservative history, Walker's video mentions his 2011 fight with labor unions and progressives after he signed a measure meant to destroy the collective bargaining rights of public employees like firefighters, teachers and police officers. Walker survived a 2012 recall attempt and the battle thrust the first term governor into the national spotlight.

As Governor, Walker supported the state's constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, opposed hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples, and repealed a bill that protected state workers from job discrimination based on sex. As Milwaukee County Executive, Walker proposed ending HIV/AIDS prevention programs, claiming that tackling the disease should not be "a core function of the county" and vetoed a bill that would have given workers domestic partner benefits.

After a court ruled same-sex marriage legal in Wisconsin, the candidate supported appeal efforts, but has backpedaled dramatically in recent months, declaring the fight for marriage equality "over." In 2013 he told Meet the Press host David Gregory, "When I talk about things, I talk about the economic and fiscal crises in our state and in our country, that's what people want to resonate about. They don't want to get focused on those issues."

The Governor has repeatedly reiterated his opposition to same-sex marriage but has also admitted that his views are evolving. His wife and two sons support marriage equality. His 19-year-old son, Alex, was a witness at a relative's same sex wedding while Walker opted to skip the ceremony entirely. He did attend the reception.

"We talked to him -- like any family we have disagreements," Walker's other son, Matt, told CNN's Dana Bash in an interview aired last week. "He just explained his position and that was it."

"Matt and I aren't necessarily changing his stances on any issues," Alex added. "We respect his opinion on things."

Watch Walker's announcement video below.

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