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Kyrsten Sinema on Civil Rights

 

 


Co-chair Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus

"On behalf of the co-chairs, I thank my colleagues in both parties who have joined the LGBT Equality Caucus and pledged to stand for and with the LGBT community," Sinema said in a statement. "While we've made significant process in recent years, we still have more work to do and must protect the progress we've made. Our caucus continues to work to ensure every American has the fundamental freedom and opportunity to pursue the American Dream."
Source: Washington Blade on 2018 Arizona Senate race , Feb 7, 2017

Focus on legal recognition of domestic partnerships

[In fighting the 2006 same-sex marriage ban], we focused on the impact that the initiative would have on unmarried couples in the state, rather than fighting with the proponents about the merits of same-sex marriage. [The proponents' focus on gay marriage] was intended to appeal emotionally to voters. But a major part of the initiative would prohibit any legal recognition of domestic partnerships in Arizona. This initiative would take health-care benefits away from the employees' domestic partners, and would prohibit unmarried seniors from visiting each other in the hospital.

Lots of people were surprised when they learned this. After all, this initiative was called a "same-sex marriage ban." The proponents knew that they needed to focus on the marriage part of the proposition because Arizona voters are pretty firmly set in their support for domestic partnership recognition, though, so ignoring this part of the proposition was important to its proponents.

Source: Unite and Conquer, by Kyrsten Sinema, p. 59-60 , Jul 1, 2009

Include gender identity in anti-discrimination laws

Q: Should Arizona recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?

A: Yes.

Source: Arizona 2006 Congressional National Political Awareness Test , Nov 1, 2006

Apply Affirmative Action to all state decisions

Q: Affirmative Action: Should race, ethnicity or gender be taken into account in state agencies? decisions on public employment?

A: Yes.

Q: State college and university admissions?

A: Yes.

Q: State contracting?

A: Yes.

Source: Arizona 2006 Congressional National Political Awareness Test , Nov 1, 2006

Voted YES on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.

Congressional Summary:
    Amends the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) to add or expand definitions of several terms used in such Act, including :
  1. "culturally specific services" to mean community-based services that offer culturally relevant and linguistically specific services and resources to culturally specific communities;
  2. "personally identifying information" with respect to a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking;
  3. "underserved populations" as populations that face barriers in accessing and using victim services because of geographic location, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity; and
  4. "youth" to mean a person who is 11 to 24 years old.

Opponent's Argument for voting No (The Week; Huffington Post, and The Atlantic): House Republicans had objected to provisions in the Senate bill that extended VAWA's protections to lesbians, gays, immigrants, and Native Americans. For example, Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH) voted against the VAWA bill because it was a "politically–motivated, constitutionally-dubious Senate version bent on dividing women into categories by race, transgender politics and sexual preference." The objections can be grouped in two broadly ideological areas--that the law is an unnecessary overreach by the federal government, and that it represents a "feminist" attack on family values. The act's grants have encouraged states to implement "mandatory-arrest" policies, under which police responding to domestic-violence calls are required to make an arrest. These policies were intended to combat the too-common situation in which a victim is intimidated into recanting an abuse accusation. Critics also say VAWA has been subject to waste, fraud, and abuse because of insufficient oversight.

Reference: Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act; Bill H.R.11 ; vote number 13-HV055 on Feb 28, 2013

Endorsed by The Feminist Majority indicating a pro-women's rights stance.

Sinema is endorsed by by the Feminist Majority on women's rights

The Feminist Majority endorses candidates for the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. In addition to the stronger "endorsement," the organization also determines "preferred" candidates in races where they do not endorse. Their mission statement:

"Our mission is to empower feminists, who are the majority, and to win equality for women at the decision-making tables of the state, nation, and the world. The Feminist Majority promotes non-discrimination on the basis of sex, race, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, religion, ethnicity, age, marital status, nation of origin, size or disability. The purpose of Feminist Majority is to promote equality for women and men, non-violence, reproductive health, peace, social justice and economic development and to enhance feminist participation in public policy. Feminist Majority supports workers’ collective bargaining, pay equity, and end of sweatshops. We encourage programs directed at the preservation of the environment."

Source: FeministMajority.org website 12-FemMaj on Oct 31, 2012

Supports same-sex marriage.

Sinema supports the PVS survey question on same-sex marriage

Project Vote Smart infers candidate issue stances on key topics by summarizing public speeches and public statements. Congressional candidates are given the opportunity to respond in detail; about 11% did so in the 2012 races.

Project Vote Smart summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: 'Marriage: Do you support same-sex marriage?'

Source: Project Vote Smart 12-PVS-q3 on Aug 30, 2012

Enforce against anti-gay discrimination in public schools.

Sinema co-sponsored Student Non-Discrimination Act

Congressional Summary: