Elizabeth Warren — who is challenging Scott Brown’s (R-MA) senate seat in Massachusetts — is reiterating her support for same-sex marriage and greater equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the workplace. Warren also joined the growing list of lawmakers calling for the repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents the federal government from recognizing married gay couples and offering them federal benefits:

I’m deeply proud to be from Massachusetts because the Commonwealth has been the nation’s leader in protecting and promoting equality – from marriage equality to the recently passed Transgender Equal Rights Bill. Congress and the President have also recently taken historic steps forward in promoting the cause of fairness and equality: the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hates Crimes Prevention Act and – after years of effort – the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” [...]

As other states grapple with whether to support marriage equality, I’m ready to move to the next step: End the two-tiered system created by the Defense of Marriage Act. Our federal government should not be in the business of selecting which married couples it supports and which it treats with contempt. States define marriage among couples, and, once married, all those couples and their families should have the same protections, the same benefits, and the same tax treatments. Fairness and equality are foundational values in our country, and nowhere is that more important than in our families.

In the workplace, people should be hired for what they can do and evaluated on their performance – period. I strongly support the fully inclusive Employee Non-Discrimination Act. Particularly in these uncertain times, people must have confidence that they will be judged on the merits. Again, this speaks to the fairness and equality that mark us as a people.

Brown, who has been playing up his LGBT record ahead of the election has little to be proud off. While the Senator ultimately vote to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, he had initially opposed the process of attaching an amendment to the defense authorization bill. Brown also opposes marriage equality, the right of gays and lesbians to adopt children, federal protections for LGBT people in the workplace, and has even refused to participate in an “It Gets Better” video with the rest of the Massachusetts congressional delegation.

During an interview with the Boston Herald on Wednesday, Mitt Romney reiterated his support for a federal amendment to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman, but also said that he would establish three different tiers of marriage specifically for gay people:

Expressed support for a constitutional amendment that could create a complex three-tier system of marriage — maintaining marriage rights for straight couples, allowing gays who have already married to remain married, but barring future same-sex marriages.

“I think it would keep intact those marriages which had occurred under the law but maintain future plans based on marriage being between a man and a woman,” Romney said.

The Romney of 1994 would have opposed this system entirely. As candidate for the senate running against Teddy Kennedy, Romney had argued that same-sex marriage is “a state issue as you know – the authorization of marriage on a same-sex basis falls under state jurisdiction.” (HT: Ned Flaherty)

Newt Gingrich told the Des Moines Register’s editorial board this morning that gay people have a “significant range of choice within a genetic pattern” and can choose to be straight just like someone can “choose to be celibate.” The former House speaker, who opposes same-sex marriage, explained that there is a “big difference between saying that you’re to have an acceptance of people’s lifestyles and saying that you’re now going to normalize that as a standard for the whole country”:

Q: Do you believe that people choose to be gay?

GINGRICH: I believe it’s a combination of genetics and environment. I think both are involved. I think people have many ranges of choices. Part of the question is, do you want a society which has a bias in one direction or another?

Q: So people can then choose one way or another?

GINGRICH: I think people have a significant range of choice within a genetic pattern. I don’t believe in genetic determinism and I don’t think there is any great evidence of genetic determinism. There are propensities. Are you more likely to do this or more likely to do that? But that doesn’t mean it’s definitional.

Q: So a person can then choose to be straight?

GINGRICH: Look, people choose to be celibate. People choose many things in life. You know, there is a bias in favor of non-celibacy. It’s part of how the species recreates. And yet there is a substantial amount of people who choose celibacy as a religious vocation or for other reasons.

Watch it:

Gingrich also reiterated that he would reinstate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell if elected President and suggested that military commanders have been pressured to accept the policy change. “I think that it would be a career ending conversation,” he said. “I don’t think that in the military you would particularly want sexual behavior to be an overt issue.”

Bishop Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop in New Hampshire, condemned Rick Perry’s infamous “war on religion” ad earlier this week for playing “fast and loose with both the Constitution and our men and women in uniform.” “It would be simply pathetic that Gov. Perry would do so in an effort to entice conservative voters, if it weren’t such an abuse of religion and a violation of the Constitution,” Robinson wrote in the Washington Post.

This morning, during an appearance on MSNBC with Thomas Roberts, Robinson added, “I think it must break God’s heart to see religion used in a political campaign like this”:

ROBINSON: There is something wrong in America, he got that right. But it’s when we denigrate our brave soldiers — those gay and lesbian people — who are risking their lives for us and then go on to slam the separation of church and state, which is absolutely appropriate and constitutional….I think gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are very marginalized still in our culture. They are an easy target. We are an easy target. And it plays very well to very Evangelical Christian base, but it really plays to their worse natures and the fact of the matter is, this is a man running for president. Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell is gone, it is the law of the land and for him to use the brave soldiers in that way seems to me despicable….[Perry] needs to be commander in chief for all of our troops like all of our citizens need to be full citizens of this country.

Watch it:

The United National Human Rights Council has released its thorough report on laws and practices that punish LGBT people or enable violence against them. Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made several important recommendations for how all member states should work to end the persecution of people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, including calling for an end to all laws criminalizing homosexuality:

• Promptly investigate all reported killings and serious incidents of violence, hold perpetrators accountable, and establish systems for recording and reporting such incidents.
• Take measures to prevent torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, investigate all reported incidents of such treatment, and hold those responsible accountable.
• Update asylum laws to protect those fleeing persecution and ensure none are returned to territories where their life or freedom would be threatened.
• Repeal laws criminalizing homosexuality, make sure no other laws can be used to harass or detain people for their identities, and abolish the death penalty for consensual sexual relations.
• Enact comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that includes protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.
• Ensure freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly without anti-LGBT discrimination.
• Implement training programs for law and safety officials and support public information campaigns to counter homophobia and transphobia.
• Facilitate legal recognition of transgender individuals’ preferred gender on relevant documentation.

These recommendations echo Sec. Hillary Clinton’s comments at the United Nations last week, calling for a worldwide end to the mistreatment of LGBT people.

The National Organization for Marriage is applauding Newt Gingrich for signing its “marriage pledge” today, even though just four months ago it didn’t consider him a “major candidate.” NOM believes that allowing same-sex couples to marry is somehow a threat to the “institution of marriage,” but has expressed no concern that Gingrich is on his third marriage and is notorious for his infidelity. 

According to the pledge, candidates will advocate for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and appoint a commission to investigate claims of supposed harassment against individuals who oppose marriage equality. Here is the full text of the pledge, which has now been signed by Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich:

I, _______, pledge to the American people that if elected President, I will:

One, support sending a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the states for ratification.

Two, nominate to the U.S. Supreme Court and federal bench judges who are committed to restraint and to applying the original meaning of the Constitution, appoint an attorney general similarly committed, and thus reject the idea our Founding Fathers inserted a right to gay marriage into our Constitution.

Three, defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act vigorously in court.

Four, establish a presidential commission on religious liberty to investigate and document reports of American who have been harassed or threatened for exercising key civil rights to organize, to speak, to donate or to vote for marriage and to propose new protections, if need.

Five, advance legislation to return to the people of the District of Columbia their right to vote on marriage.

In the few short years it has existed, NOM has become a huge force against LGBT equality. More and more, the organization pushes fringe messages such as ex-gay therapy, links between homosexuality and pedophilia, and the work of hate groups like the Family Research Council and MassResistance. The group also jumps at opportunities to insert same-sex marriage as a wedge issue in elections using its multi-million dollar budget. Jeremy Hooper regularly showcases NOM’s antics and recently highlighted a week’s worth of NOM’s harmful anti-gay messaging.

It’s worth noting that Gingrich has signed this pledge, whereas he merely affirmed The FAMiLY LEADER’s marriage pledge, though that seems to be enough to appease Bob Vander Plaats, who has forgiven Gingrich’s infidelities. The $350,000 Gingrich contributed to help recall the Iowa Supreme Court judges last year may have helped convince VanderPlaats that Gingrich didn’t need to sign that pledge, though he clearly capable of signing others.

NOM points out that Ron Paul is now the the only candidate to have not signed its pledge, casually ignoring Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Fred Karger, and others who also have not. With Gingrich’s signature, NOM has committed to an “intensive communications program to inform Iowa voters who will stand with them to preserve marriage.” Given NOM’s president Brian Brown was recently seen at a high-profile (and expensive) fundraiser for Gingrich, it seems this was the signature the group was waiting for.