Hillary Clinton targets GOP rivals' "ridiculousness" on gay rights
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton hit her Republican foes over gay rights Saturday, specifically targeting some for their opposition to same-sex marriage and their support of Kentucky clerk Kim Davis.
"I wish all the progress that we've made was so secure and so deeply ingrained in our laws and our values that we didn't have to keep constantly defending it," Clinton told members of the Human Rights Campaign gathered in Washington, D.C. "But we're not there yet. There are still public officials doing everything in their power to interfere with your rights."
Clinton slammed Davis, who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and her backers for sending the message to LGBT Americans that "you're not a real citizen, you're not wanted here, you're not welcome."
"There are too many young people out there feeling hopeless and alone. Now, we assure them it gets better. But it can still get really hard to believe that," the 2016 contender said. "Especially when you turn on the TV and you see a Republican candidate for president literally standing on the courthouse door in Kentucky, calling for people to join him in resisting a Supreme Court ruling, celebrating a county clerk who's breaking the law by denying other Americans their constitutional rights."
She was referring to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a GOP contender in the race for the White House, who offered to go to jail in Davis' place on the day she was released from jail.
"I'm tired of watching people being just harassed because they believe something of their faith, and we cannot criminalize the Christian faith or anybody's faith in this country," Huckabee had said, standing beside the Kentucky clerk.
Clinton also named two other fierce opponents to same-sex marriage in the 2016 race, telling the crowd that voters are "going to face some ridiculousness" from the likes of Ben Carson and Ted Cruz.
"Ben Carson says that marriage equality is what caused the fall of the Roman empire," Clinton said of the neurosurgeon-turned-politician. And when it comes to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz -- who had once criticized a political rival for marching in a pride parade -- Clinton said he "has no idea what he's missing."
"Pride parades are so much fun!" she added, noting that she had been "marching in them when I was first lady." She extended an invitation to Cruz to "join us some time."
The Democratic candidate painted a wide swath over the Republican field, warning that "if any one of them heaven forbid were ever to be elected president, they will do their best to enact policies that will threaten you and your families."
"Every single Republican candidate for president is against marriage equality," she said. "Every one of them."
Clinton, who has promised that gay rights would be a mainstay in her 2016 platform, has evolved on the issue of same-sex marriage since her time as the nation's first lady.
She once asserted that marriage did not include gay couples, and she was not supportive of civil unions until her first presidential run, in the 2008 Democratic primary. Clinton did not back same-sex marriage until 2013 after she left the State Department.
"I think that we have all evolved," Clinton has said of her changing position. "And it's been one of the fastest, most sweeping transformations that I'm aware of."