In a short video released today, possible Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley slammed Hillary Clinton for flip-flopping on same sex marriage. “History celebrates profiles in courage, not profiles in convenience,” O’Malley says, taking aim at Clinton.
“The dignity of every person tells us that the right to marry is not a state right, it is a human right,” O’Malley says in the video.
The former Maryland governor might not have mentioned Clinton by name, but it’s clear who it’s aimed at. Today a Clinton spokeswoman told the press, “Hillary Clinton supports marriage equality and hopes the Supreme Court will come down on the side of same-sex couples being guaranteed that constitutional right.”
But in 2014, Clinton insisted that same sex marriage should be a decision left to the states. “Still, despite her exchange with Gross, Clinton managed not to clearly state her position on same-sex marriage. Repeatedly throughout the interview, Clinton referred to marriage as a ‘state’ issue, saying, ‘for me, marriage has always been a matter left to the states’ and ‘I fully endorse the efforts by activists to work state-by-state.’ What’s happening state by state, though, is that LGBT rights activists are arguing that state bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, especially because of the Supreme Court’s reasoning in striking down the Defense of Marriage Act, which was signed by President Bill Clinton,” MSNBC reported just last year.
O’Malley’s position, on the other hand, that same sex marriage is a human right, has been long-held.
Daniel Halper is the author of Clinton, Inc.: The Audacious Rebuilding of a Political Machine.
