The Democratic presidential candidates will have a debate about LGBTQ rights. Here’s what all 15 have said about the issues.

The Democratic presidential candidates will participate in the first LGBTQ-focused debate on October 10.
While all 15 candidates are pro-LGBTQ rights, some have had murky pasts on the issues.
Senators Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Kamala Harris have been long champions of LGBTQ rights.
As a young politician, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard used to openly support anti-gay legislation.

The 2020 presidential election is already shaping up to make history for its diverse pool of candidates. But it will also make history as the first election to hold a debate focused entirely on LGBTQ issues.

The Human Rights Campaign and the UCLA Luskin School for Public Affairs will host the debate on October 10. Along with the important topic of discrimination, the candidates will debate bullying, transgender rights, and even hate crimes.

Since the Democratic candidates are mostly progressive, it’s no surprise that all 15 are pro-LGBTQ rights — but not all of them have always been champions of the cause.

Take a look at what the presidential hopefuls have said about LGBTQ rights and issues throughout the years.

Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke was once endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

While campaigning for a Senate seat against Senator Ted Cruz in 2018, O’Rourke commented on LGBTQ adoption issues in his home state of Texas.

"In this state, with 30,000 kids in the foster care system — a foster care system so under-resourced that recently kids were sleeping on top of or underneath the desks in CPS [Child Protective Services] offices — in this state, they say that under the guise of religious liberty that you can be too gay to adopt one of those children who needs a loving home."

(Politifact has since delved more in-depth into O’Rourke’s statement that one can be "too gay to adopt" in Texas, illustrating the nuance behind the law.)

During the same campaign, the Human Rights Campaign endorsed O’Rourke.

"Together, we will work to ensure our state finally has a voice in the Senate who is committed to passing the Equality Act," O’Rourke said in response to the endorsement, "standing up to discriminatory and dangerous measures like [Texas’ anti-transgender bill] SB6, supporting transgender troops serving our country across the globe, ensuring a caring same-sex couple can open their home to one of Texas’ 30,000 children in foster care, and continuing the daily fight for equal justice under law in this country."

Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper helped legalize civil unions in his state.

Thomson Reuters

In 2012, a bill that would legalize civil unions for same-sex couples in Colorado died on the Republican-controlled state legislature floor. Then-Governor Hickenlooper called a special session of the legislature to make sure the bill passed, and it worked.

At the bill signing, the governor recalled a time when he promoted a gay employee to a manager position at his brewing company in the early ’90s, despite complaints from customers.

"They said they weren’t going to come to our business anymore,” the governor said. “One of our waitresses was standing beside me, and she said, ‘You know, that’s not going to bother any of us at all.’"

After signing the bill, Hickenlooper said, “It is a moment that the whole community has waited for for so long."

Washington Governor Jay Inslee developed a program to ensure that the LGBTQ community feels safe.

Thomson Reuters

In 2016, Governor Inslee launched Safe Place WA, which challenged state agencies to develop safe places for employees and the larger Washington community.

“We traditionally celebrate June as LGBTQ Pride Month. I believe that as public leaders and servants, though, our commitment to diversity and inclusion extends beyond a single month of recognition,” Governor Inslee said. “Every person in the state of Washington has the right to feel safe, enjoy the benefits of public services and fully participate in civic life.”

In 2018, he signed into law a bill that banned conversion therapy in the state, saying "we are today prohibiting the abuse of our children."

"We have always believed in civil rights in our state,” Inslee said at the time. "We believe in tolerance for all."

See the rest of the story at Business Insider