Governor Mike Pence's bigoted views go back a long way.
From Tuesday's press conference with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence:
There's no license to discriminate in #RFRA. I abhor discrimination & don't think ppl should be discrim against because of who they are/love
— @GovPenceIN
Unfortunately for Mike Pence, thanks to the internet, we can go back and revisit his long history of bigotry and discrimination when it comes to homosexuality. As the Senate was in the heat of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" debate back in 2010, then-Congressman Mike Pence took a hard, definitive stand against allowing equality in the military. Thanks to
Towleroad.com for finding this blast from the past.
Jump below the fold for the video and transcript of his remarks on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
[DADT discussion begins at the 3:19 mark]
Chris Jansing: We have been seeing in poll after poll that more and more Americans believe that gays should be able to serve openly in the military. We've gotten every indication that the big study that was done by the military shows that the vast majority of service members and their families don't have a problem with it, um–where do you stand, sir?
Mike Pence: Well, where I stand is I don't believe we should be using the American military
our armed forces to advance a liberal social agenda. Or, to engage in the practice of domestic politics. Look, what we ought to be focused on–is first, we ought to wait and listen to what that survey of our soldiers says. But, number two, we ought to learn the lessons of history ... (Chris Jansing interrupts)
Chris Jansing: And if it does say what the indication has been–that the vast majority of service members and their families don't have a problem with it?
Mike Pence: Well, I would still have a problem with it because there is no question that to mainstream homosexuality within the active duty military would have an impact on unit cohesion, an impact on readiness, umm, that's been established and written about and chronicled for many, many years and I believe we need to continue to keep the focus of our military on the mission of the military. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was a compromise back in the early '90s. It's been a successful compromise. We ought to leave it like it is and not run the risk of impacting the readiness of our military–or recruitment for our military–because of an effort to advance some liberal, domestic, social agenda.
Sorry, Mike Pence—you were wrong then and you are wrong now. But now we are clear that your bigoted agenda has been at the top of your mind for years.