Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich served in the United States Congress from 1979 to 1999, and was the 58th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. He represented Georgia's 6th congressional district as a Republican and is currently running for the Republican nomination for the Presidency.
In 1978, Gingrich won his first seat in the United States House of Representatives. From there, he was re-elected ten times and ascended to House Minority Whip taking Representative Dick Cheney’s place in 1989. As House Minority Leader, Gingrich was a vocal proponent of welfare reform for America's families in need, worked to implement a capital gains tax cut that benefitted the wealthy, and wasted taxpayer dollars with an impeachment trial of President Clinton. He was also instrumental in securing a Republican majority in the House for which he was elected Speaker of the House.
Mired in personal controversy, Gingrich resigned his seat in 1998. Since then, Gingrich has been a political analyst and consultant and in May 2011, he announced his campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination.
After a brief surge ahead in the polls, Gingrich's support has dropped over a few short weeks. In a poll conducted before the Iowa caucus from The Des Moines Register, Gingrich placed fourth with 12% support. Mitt Romney was first with 24%, Ron Paul second with 22%, and Rick Santorum third with 15%.
At the Iowa caucus, Gingrich came in fourth with 13% of the votes. Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum tied with roughly 24%, and Ron Paul came in third with 21%.
After some back and forth polling numbers, however, Gingrich came in strong with a solid win in the South Carolina primary with 40% of the vote. Mitt Romney came in second with 27%, Rick Santorum third with 17%, and Ron Paul fourth with 13%.
Gingrich’s position on marriage equality and LGBT rights are clear. He opposes any legal recognition of marriage equality, helped sponsor the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and has even linked marriage to the economic recession. He loudly asserts his claim that marriage is between one man and one woman and has been a vocal opponent of Iowa’s marriage law by challenging the authority of Iowa State Supreme Court justices. In 2010, following the Varnum v. Brien decision that ruled in favor of marriage equality for lesbian and gay Iowa couples, anti-gay groups and leaders—including the National Organization for Marriage and Newt Gingrich—spent $235,000 and $200,000 respectively on the campaign to successfully oust the three justices.
In December 2011, Gingrich also endorsed The Family Leader's controversial marriage pledge, and also signed the anti-gay pledge from the National Organization for Marriage. In both pledges, Gingrich vows to oppose marriage equality for committed, loving gay and lesbian couples throughout the country.
One Iowa is committed to holding our political leaders accountable for their words and actions while on the campaign trail. We support fair minded politicians who value all families, and over the next few months One Iowa will be working to make sure you have the information you need to make an informed choice.
Endorsements
After dropping out of the presidential race, Rick Perry handed his endorsement over to Newt Gingrich. “Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?” Perry said about his decision to endorse Gingrich.
Newt Gingrich has been endorsed by Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, although the endorsement was overshadowed by Occupy Des Moines protesters.
On the same day that Rick Santorum snagged an endorsement from Bob Vaner Plaats of the Family Leader, Gingrich was endorsed by Rev. Don Wildmon, founder and chairman of the anti-LGBT American Family Association and American Family Radio.
Former Sioux City Congressman Fred Grandy called Gingrich "the only guy that I see who is offering real leadership positions" on a variety of issues.
Republican activist Darrell Kearney has also endorsed Gingrich. Kearney said Gingrich is “the most prepared conservative leader to be president since Ronald Reagan.” Kearney endorsed Mitt Romney four years ago, but says that Romney is currently "second place."
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Keep checking back with us for the latest information on Newt Gingrich and marriage equality.
In Sioux City, Iowa, defending his stand against marriage equality:
“My comment is that people can go to the state legislature to reinterpret things but it was a brand new interpretation that had never been there in 200 years and I don’t think a handful of lawyers should redefine the entire society based on their personal preferences.”
12/29/11, Des Moines Register
In Oskaloose, Iowa, an exchange between Gingrich and gay Iowan Scott Arnold:
Arnold asked the former House speaker how he planned to engage with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender who agree with him on other issues, but not on Gingrich's opposition to same-sex marriage.
Gingrich: "I think those for whom the only issue that really matters is the definition of marriage, I won't get their support. I accept that as reality. On the other hand, for those to whom it's not the central issue in their life, if they care about job creation, if they care about national security, if they care about a better future for the country at large, then I think I'll get their support."
Q: So what if it is the biggest issue?
Gingrich: Then I won't get their support.
Q: How do we engage if you're elected. Then what, what does that mean?
Gingrich: Well then you engage in every topic except that.
Q: Except it's most important. ...
Gingrich: Well, if that's most important to you then you should be for Obama.
Q: I am, thank you. ...
Gingrich: It's perfectly legitimate. I think it's perfectly legitimate.
12/21/11, Fox News
12/20/11, Des Moines Register
On marriage 'values':
I think marriage is between a man and a woman. That’s a value proposition.
I think it is very important for society to try and emphasize that relationship. I think people growing up in a structure in which children have parents that they look up to and parents that they relate to is a very important thing.
I think there is a big difference between saying that you are going to have an acceptance of people’s lifestyle and saying you now are going to normalize that as the standard for the whole country. The fact is I am a traditional classic conservative. And I am defending a value system which has a several-thousand-year history behind it, which is pretty clear. And I think that almost nobody who studies that value system has any doubts about that clarity.
12/15/11, LGBTQ Nation
Gingrich's pledge to Bob Vander Plaats' The Family Leader:
"Defending Marriage. As President, I will vigorously enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, which was enacted under my leadership as Speaker of the House, and ensure compliance with its provisions, especially in the military. I will also aggressively defend the constitutionality of DOMA in federal and state courts. I will support sending a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the states for ratification. I will also oppose any judicial, bureaucratic, or legislative effort to define marriage in any manner other than as between one man and one woman. I will support all efforts to reform promptly any uneconomic or anti-marriage aspects of welfare and tax policy. I also pledge to uphold the institution of marriage through personal fidelity to my spouse and respect for the marital bonds of others."
12/12/11, Think Progress
At the Family Leader Thanksgiving forum (with Herman Cain) on DOMA:
"...The two elected branches have the power and the authority to educate the judiciary when it deviates too far from the American people...You can repass DOMA and make it not appealable to the Court. Period."
11/21/11, Think Progress.
In Fort Dodge, Iowa:
“I believe that marriage is between a man and woman. It has been for all of recorded history and I think this is a temporary aberration that will dissipate. I think that it is just fundamentally goes against everything we know.”
9/30/11, The Des Moines Register
On DADT:
"I was underwhelmed when [Secretary of Defense] Leon Panetta proudly announced that 97 percent of the troops have now gone through sensitivity training. Somehow, that’s not why I thought we recruited people to be on active duty. [...] You have to start with the idea that this is an administration of extraordinary anti-military prejudice, that just hides it, okay?"
9/30/11, Think Progress
On Catholic Radio San Diego:
“The concept of family being between man and woman and the concept of all these core values that grow out of 3,000 years of Judeo-Christian tradition. This is a direct threat to the entire secular world."
8/17/11, Daily Kos
Regarding New York, Iowa, DOMA, and marriage:
"Iowa was a very different case from New York. I mean, Iowa was seven judges deciding that they would arbitrarily overturn the laws and the culture of the state of Iowa which is fundamentally different. I mean New York at least, whether you agree or disagree with the outcome, it is in the elected process and it is in the legislature and it is with the governor and that’s the right venue.
“I helped sponsor the Defense of Marriage Act which basically doesn’t transfer automatically to all 50 states. I think the president should be, frankly, enforcing that act and I think we are drifting towards a terrible muddle which I think is going to be very, very difficult and painful to work our way out of.
“I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. I think that’s what marriage ought to be and I would like to find ways to defend that view as legitimately and effectively as possible.”
6/27/11, Think Progress
GOP debate in NH:
“I helped author the Defense of Marriage Act which the Obama administration should be protecting in court. I think if that fails, you have no choice except a constitutional amendment.”
6/13/11, On the Issues
On DADT:
"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.”
6/13/11 Politisite
On Obama:
"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. 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."
US News, 2/25/11
On Judge Walker and Prop 8:
"Judge Walker's ruling overturning Prop 8 is an outrageous disrespect for our Constitution and for the majority of people of the United States who believe marriage is the union of husband and wife. In every state of the union from California to Maine to Georgia, where the people have had a chance to vote they've affirmed that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Congress now has the responsibility to act immediately to reaffirm marriage as a union of one man and one woman as our national policy."
8/4/10, Think Progress
On traditional marriage:
“I think on traditional marriage, it’s likely to be a long, complex struggle with the courts making it, I think, worse, because they are intervening without regard to popular opinion.”
4/17/09, Christianity Today
On the LGBT movement:
"I think there is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us, is prepared to use violence, to use harassment. I think it is prepared to use the government if it can get control of it. I think that it is a very dangerous threat to anybody who believes in traditional religion."
11/17/08, Media Matters
