--- title: Mike Pence: What He's Said on LGBT Issues Over the Years description: Mike Pence, Donald Trump's running mate, opposed gay marriage, ending Don't Ask Don't Tell and fighting workplace discrimination. canonical: https://time.com/4406337/mike-pence-gay-rights-lgbt-religious-freedom/ author: Will Drabold article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-15T14:48:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:57.158Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's What Mike Pence Said on LGBT Issues Over the Years og:description: He linked gays to 'societal collapse,' opposed gay marriage. og:url: https://time.com/4406337/mike-pence-gay-rights-lgbt-religious-freedom/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1745ace46386f317/69889b9f0b72e37af96ea28f/donald-trump-vice-president-pick-03.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2257 og:image:height: 1270 og:image:alt: Interview With Indiana Governor Mike Pence og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What Mike Pence Said on LGBT Issues Over the Years twitter:description: He linked gays to 'societal collapse,' opposed gay marriage. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1745ace46386f317/69889b9f0b72e37af96ea28f/donald-trump-vice-president-pick-03.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's What Mike Pence Said on LGBT Issues Over the Years > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 15, 2016 2:48 PM UTC  Indiana Gov. Michael "Mike" Pence Indiana Gov. Michael "Mike" Pence Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 15, 2016 2:48 PM UTC Indiana Gov. Mike Pence,[ Donald Trump’s running mate](http://time.com/4408060/donald-trump-mike-pence-twitter-tweet/), attracted national attention last year when he signed a religious freedom law that members of the LGBT community said could worsen discrimination against them. After criticism from the business community, Pence [signed an amendment](http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/01/indiana-rfra-deal-sets-limited-protections-for-lgbt/70766920/) to the law intended to protect gays and lesbians. But it was not his first brush with criticism from the LGBT community. A self-described [“Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,”](http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2016/07/07/trumps-vp-10-things-know-indiana-gov-mike-pence/86746980/%29) the former member of Congress was a prominent conservative figure in battles over marriage equality and equal rights in the last decade. **Read More:** [_Donald Trump Names Veep Pick on Twitter_](http://time.com/4408060/donald-trump-mike-pence-twitter-tweet/) Here are some of the statements and positions Pence had has related to LGBT issues: **He said gay couples signaled ‘societal collapse’** In 2006, as head of the Republican Study Committee, a group of the 100 most-conservative House members, Pence rose in support of a constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Citing a Harvard researcher, Pence [said in his speech](http://bit.ly/29KcLLm), “societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family.” Pence also called being gay a choice and said keeping gays from marrying was not discrimination, but an enforcement of “God’s idea.” **He opposed a law that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT people in the workplace** The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would have banned discrimination against people based on sexual orientation. Pence [voted against that law](https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/03685) in 2007 and later said the law “[wages war on freedom and religion in the workplace.](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/02/the-tea-partys-religious-inspiration/71679/)” More than 20 years after the bill was first introduced, the Senate [approved the proposal in 2013,](http://swampland.time.com/2013/11/07/senate-passes-lgbt-anti-discrimination-bill/) but the bill failed in the House. **Read More**: [_Why Donald Trump Picked Mike Pence as Running Mate_](http://time.com/4406477/donald-trump-mike-pence-running-mate-vice-president/?xid=homepage) **He opposed the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell** Pence favored the longtime military policy of not letting soldiers openly identify as gay. In 2010, Pence told CNN he did not want to see the military become [“a backdrop for social experimentation.”](http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1012/02/jkusa.01.html) The [policy ended in 2011.](http://nation.time.com/2011/09/16/the-lessons-of-ending-dont-ask-dont-tell/) **He rejected the Obama administration directive on transgender bathrooms** In May, the federal government directed school districts to allow students to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with. The directive came as [criticism crescendoed around a North Carolina law](http://time.com/4341419/battle-of-the-bathroom/) that would have restricted the use of bathrooms. Along with many other conservatives, Pence opposed Obama’s directive and said it was a state issue. “The federal government has not business getting involved in issues of this nature,” [Pence said.](http://fox59.com/2016/05/13/indiana-schools-react-to-obama-administrations-directive-on-transgender-access-to-school-bathrooms/) **Read More:** [_Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s Running Mate, Disagrees With Him on These 3 Issues_](http://time.com/4406664/donald-trump-vice-president-mike-pence-issues/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4406337/mike-pence-gay-rights-lgbt-religious-freedom/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4406337/mike-pence-gay-rights-lgbt-religious-freedom/"},"headline":"Here's What Mike Pence Said on LGBT Issues Over the Years","datePublished":"2016-07-15T14:48:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:57.158Z","description":"In a speech opposing gay marriage, Pence said \"societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family.\"","url":"https://time.com/4406337/mike-pence-gay-rights-lgbt-religious-freedom/","keywords":["Mike Pence","2016 Election","Donald Trump","veepstakes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1745ace46386f317/69889b9f0b72e37af96ea28f/donald-trump-vice-president-pick-03.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Will Drabold","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/will-drabold/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1745ace46386f317/69889b9f0b72e37af96ea28f/donald-trump-vice-president-pick-03.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Interview With Indiana Governor Mike Pence","caption":"Interview With Indiana Governor Mike Pence","creditText":"Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mike-pence/","name":"Mike Pence"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4406337/mike-pence-gay-rights-lgbt-religious-freedom/","name":"Here's What Mike Pence Said on LGBT Issues Over the Years"}}]}] ```