Congressman Gingrich is opposed to gay marriage and adoption by gay couples. He has stated that we should find ways to accommodate homosexual couples in situations such as hospital visits.
In interviews, Congressman Gingrich has stated that he supports the Defense of Marriage Act, but if that were to be shown to be unconstitutional to enforce then he would support an amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman.
In 2008, Congressman Gingrich supported California's Proposition 8, which sought to define marriage as between one man and one woman.
Time Interview
In April of 2002, Congressman Gingrich was interviewed by Time Magazine and was asked about the subject of gay marriage.
YOUR HALF SISTER, CANDACE, IS GAY. ROSIE O'DONNELL, WHO HAS COME OUT OF THE CLOSET, SAYS GAYS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO ADOPT CHILDREN. SHOULD THEY?
There are a lot of practical relationships that we ought to find a way to accommodate. If your partner ends up in the hospital, there ought to be some ability to visit that partner. But I'm not in favor of creating the notion of gay marriage or gay adoption.
American View Interview
In 2005, Congressman Gingrich was interviewed by the American View. He was asked in that interview about gay marriage, adoption by gay couples, and allowing gay people to teach. He states that he is opposed to gay marriage and adoption, but OK with allowing homosexual teachers.
L: Let’s move on to another important topic, another important battle, the attack by homosexuals on God-ordained, God-defined one only man/woman marriage. I didn’t see anything in your book about that.
G: Well, I favor a Constitutional amendment to protect the traditional family and I think we should have such an amendment.
L: I assume you are against homosexuals being allowed to, quote, “marry,” unquote?
G: I don’t think that’s marriage.
L: How about civil unions? Where do you stand on that issue?
G: I stand on some kind of legal rights. I’m not sure where I stand on civil unions. It’s like marriage without marriage. I’ll give you a specific example of what I believe. People ought to have the ability to have people visit them in the hospital, which is the most obvious and awkward situation. There ought to be a way to arrange that. There ought to be some way to leave your estate to someone. There ought to be some way to arrange that.
L: Do you believe that homosexuality is a sin?
G: I think you have to. But, I also believe that all of us are sinners.
L: Well, but some folk’s do work a little harder at their sin than others, don’t they?
G: Yeah, but I’m just saying that I don’t want to be judgmental about others. I think that the —-
L: But we are talking about homosexuality. Scripture is very clear —- it’s an abomination to God.
G: That’s right. And that’s why I just agreed with you. I think that if you believe in the Bible, then it’s fairly clear. But, I’m not prepared to render judgment to individuals.
L: Do you think homosexuals ought to be able to adopt children?
G: No.
L: Do you think they should be allowed to teach in government run schools?
G: Yes.
L: Why?
G: Well, I think if you were going to try to populate schools with non-sinners you are going to have remarkably few teachers.
L: Oh, come on now. You know I’m not talking about sinners [in an original sin sense]. I’m talking about people who are —-
G: I’m perfectly happy to disagree. I respect very much your right to have a strong opinion.
L: I appreciate that.
G: And you can interpret the Bible —- there’s no question what the Bible says about this issue.
L: Right.
G: And therefore I think you come down to a core question of faith.
L: Yes.
G: But, there’s also no requirement that that then leads directly to public policy you just described.
L: Well, my thinking was something like that if people are homosexuals, that tells us something about their character and we care about the character —-
G: I don’t agree with that.
L: Oh, I see. Why do you think God calls it an abomination if it says nothing about their character?
G: I think there are many good and kind and decent people who may also be homosexuals.
L: Really?
G: Yes.
L. My goodness.
G: And you live in a very narrow world if you’ve never met one.
Support for Proposition 8
In August of 2008, Congressman Gingrich released a video in support of Proposition 8, the California measure to define marriage as between one man and one woman.
Right Wing News Interview
In 2010, Congressman Gingrich was interviewed by Right Wing News. He was asked about the need for a constitutional amendment concerning marriage and DOMA.
John Hawkins: Do you think we need a Constitutional Amendment to protect marriage?
Newt Gingrich: Well, I think that the question is whether or not the Congress could pass a law which protected marriage or whether because of states' rights Congress does not have the ability to then enforce that without a Constitutional Amendment. I certainly think that we have every right to defend traditional marriage...whether it's by passing a law or a constitutional amendment. Given what the judges in Massachusetts did, they in effect single handedly by judicial fiat began to change what had been several thousand years of tradition and history. I think it's a profound mistake for judges to engage in social engineering.
John Hawkins: Do you think DOMA would pass Constitutional muster and that's even setting aside judges making gay marriage legal in states over the…
Newt Gingrich: I'm told that it might not. I'm not a lawyer so I would defer to sound conservative constitutional scholars on this. I favor something like DOMA if it can be done at the statute level, but if it is literally impossible to enforce except by amendment, then I would favor an amendment.
New Hampshire Debate
In June of 2011, Congressman Gingrich participated in the Presidential debate in New Hampshire. He noted his support for DOMA and stated that he would support reinstatement of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
KING: On that point -- on that point, to voters out there for whom this is an important issue, let's try to quickly go through it. Let me start at this end, we'll just go right through. I'll describe it this way. Are you a George W. Bush Republican, meaning a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, or a Dick Cheney who, like I believe, the congresswoman just said, this should be made -- this decision, same sex marriage, should be a state's decision?
...
KING: Mr. Speaker? GINGRICH: Well, I helped author the Defense of Marriage Act which the Obama administration should be frankly protecting in court. I think if that fails, at that point, you have no choice except to (ph) constitutional amendment.
...
KING: All right, let me ask you another question. The Obama administration is in the process -- and Leon Panetta, who's the new defense secretary, will implement -- essentially, the repeal of "don't ask/don't tell" so gays will be allowed to serve openly in the military. I want to ask each of you -- and, again, if we can be quickly, because then we want to get to the voters question -- if you were president -- if you become president of the United States, now gays are allowed to serve openly in the military, would you leave that policy in place or would you try to change it, go back to "don't ask/don't tell," or something else?
...
KING: Mr. Speaker?
GINGRICH: Well, I think it's very powerful that both the Army and the Marines overwhelmingly opposed changing it, that their recommendation was against changing it. And if as president -- I've met with them and they said, you know, it isn't working, it is dangerous, it's disrupting unit morale, and we should go back, I would listen to the commanders whose lives are at risk about the young men and women that they are, in fact, trying to protect.
Reaction to DOMA Finding
In February of 2011, Congressman Gingrich reacted to a statement made by President Obama that they would not defend DOMA by stating that House Republicans should enter a resolution instructing President Obama to do his job.
I believe the House Republicans next week should pass a resolution instructing the president to enforce the law and to obey his own constitutional oath, and they should say if he fails to do so that they will zero out [defund] the office of attorney general and take other steps as necessary until the president agrees to do his job," said Gingrich. "His job is to enforce the rule of law and for us to start replacing the rule of law with the rule of Obama is a very dangerous precedent.
Palmetto Freedom Forum
In August of 2011, Congressman Gingrich participated in the Palmetto Freedom Forum, which was a discusssion by 5 presidential candidates concerning the constitution and political issues. He was asked about marriage and spoke about the need to support traditional marriage and his support for a constitutional amendment.
STEVE KING: I shift to the question of marriage and another question about the constitution related to it. We have a bit debate in this country about the definition and meaning of marriage. It's a very important debate that reasonable people of good will on competing sides, but it's fundamental. Should the debate in the end be resolved state by state with each state with each state setting its own definition of marriage, or by the Supreme Court and adjudication such as what's pending now, or by the constitution or by a constitutional amendment setting a national standard?
GINGRICH: I think we have to look at either -- again, to the point you make, either looking at legislation involving restriction or look at the constitution. And given the current state of what's happened, I suspect you would have to move to a constitutional amendment.
But I do believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. I do believe and we have every right to defend a 3,000 year clear record that that's what marriage is. And I don't think we should be intimidated against it.
Sponsored and Cosponsored Legislation
This representative has not been identified as sponsoring or cosponsoring significant legislation related to this title.
