Joe Biden said Americans are better than the gay rights agenda in place under President Trump.
The former vice president and leading candidate in the 2020 Democratic primary field Thursday stressed the importance of educating people about the gay community, particularly how a gay person can still be fired from their job because of their marital status, Biden, 76, said during a CNN town hall focusing on gay and transgender issues.
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“The American people are better than we give them credit for,” Biden said. “But we allow the homophobes to be able to control the agenda.”
The 36-year Delaware senator vowed he would roll back Trump’s ban on transgender troops and defended his initial support for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” saying it passed the Senate as part of a larger military appropriations bill in 1993.
Biden retold the story, which often shifts with each recounting, of seeing two gay men kissing in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1963. Biden said his father simply told him, “They love each other.” Biden said since he’s always been open-minded toward the gay community.
Biden also said former President Barack Obama hugged and kissed him on the cheek after his No. 2 “jumped the gun” and publicly announced his backing of same-sex marriage before Obama in 2012.
“He knew that I was gonna be a good boy,” Biden said. “Unless I was asked.”
