The Jon Huntsman presidential campaign tried to position itself as very gay-friendly, especially over the past week, during which fundraising efforts were made that touted the former Utah Republican Governor’s supposed support of gay rights, including civil unions.
“On the eve of Huntsman’s official campaign launch Tuesday, one of his political consultants, Charles Moran, issued a straight-out-of-the-gate email casting the former Utah governor as a friend of the gay, lesbian, and transgender community,” Eve Conant writes in The Daily Beast.
“On the domestic front, and as it specifically pertains to our greater LGBT community, Governor and Mrs. Huntsman are particularly supportive of our issues,†wrote Moran, a consultant who also is involved with the GOP gay-rights group known as the Log Cabin Republicans.
Moran wrote that Huntsman supported legislation that established civil unions for gays in Utah in 2009 and also set up regular meetings with the Log Cabin Republicans as governor.
“He’s talked the talk, and walked the walk—Governor Huntsman is not only the right choice to lead our nation, he is unique in his desire to have a fully inclusive campaign,†Moran wrote, adding that he is joining the Huntsman campaign in an official capacity.
And then on Tuesday, Huntsman, who resigned as Obama’s Ambassador to China to explore a GOP presidential run, told reporters that if New York passed its same-sex marriage equality bill, as president, he would “respect” their decision, leading many to assume he, again, was supportive of equality for gays.
Tuesday night, Huntsman told Fox’s Sean Hannity, “I am where I am on civil unions. Some will like it. Some will don’t…We have not done an adequate job in terms of equality and fairness where it comes to reciprocal beneficiary rights.”
But Wednesday morning, Huntsman took a huge step backwards.
On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Huntsman said, “I think redefining marriage is something that would be impossible and it’s something I would not be in favor of,” adding, ironically, what now amounts to his stump speech, saying, “But I believe, just subordinate to marriage we have not done an adequate job in the area of equality and reciprocal beneficiary rights. I’ve spoken out about that, my support of civil unions, some people like it, some people don’t.”
Evidently, “particularly supportive,” “talked the talk, and walked the walk,” and “equality and fairness,” are also, “impossible.”
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