Seventh in a series examining how anti-LGBT Senate candidates have worked to hurt the cause of equality.

After losing in the primary in her first Senate bid in the 2008 election, former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) is now the Republican nominee against Rep. Martin Heinrich (D) for the open seat of retiring Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D). Unlike Heinrich, a consistent supporter of LGBT equality and a backer of marriage equality, Wilson has opposed the LGBT community on several major issues.

Over her ten-plus years in the House of Representatives and her two Senate campaigns:

1. Wilson said she “tolerates” but doesn’t “approve of” homosexuality. Throughout her career, Wilson has repeatedly noted that though she tolerates LGBT people, she doesn’t much like having to do so. “With respect to homosexuality,” she told ABC News in 2006, “there are things I’m willing to tolerate that I’m not willing to approve of.” That disapproval was evident in her voting record: according to the Human Rights Campaign, she voted for LGBT equality just 5 percent of the time in the 110th Congress and zero percent of the time in the 107th, 108th, and 109th Congresses.

2. Wilson voted against Hate Crimes protections for LGBT Americans. In both 2000 and 2007, she voted against adding sexual orientation to the federal hate crimes laws. In 1998, in the wake of the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, Wilson argued that there was no need to add hate crimes protections for LGBT people because “it’s already law” — citing a 1994 provision that only covered crimes committed when the victim was engaged in already-protected federal activities like voting.

3. Wilson opposed anti-bullying laws, comparing anti-gay bullying to mere “teasing.” Earlier this year, she outlined her opposition to SB 555, the Student Non-Discrimination Act, explaining that “with respect to this particular agenda we have to recognize as parents that children tease each other.” Wilson mocked the bill — which would merely provide LGBT students with similar civil rights protections against bullying to those already granted to students bullied based on race and gender — dismissing it as “so broad it would actually punish children and say that it’s prohibited to express an opinion with respect to homosexuality in the schools.”

4. Wilson has consistently and vocally opposed marriage equality and civil unions. She frequently notes that “marriage is the union of a man and a woman as husband and wife” and repeatedly voted for a federal constitutional amendment to force that definition on states. In her 2012 campaign kickoff speech, she ironically claimed, “I trust people more than I trust government to make the best decisions for themselves and for their families,” while noting that marriage can only be between one man and one woman. Asked in 2006 whether she would support civil union-like rights for same sex-couples, she said she would not: “I think that’s marriage. And I think marriage is an institution that we should protect and nurture and it’s not, you know, it’s not between two women, two men, or between, between a group of people. It is a union between one man and one woman, and it’s something that we should honor in law, as well as in our communities.”

5. Wilson has not even practiced non-discrimination personally. In her first Congressional race, she said that she would not support “special rights” for LGBT people — code words for opposing equal treatment under the law. In addition to voting against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, she refused to even adopt a non-discrimination policy against LGBT discrimination for employees in her own Congressional office.

Watch Wilson explain why anti-gay bullying need not be punished:

On her campaign website, Wilson calls herself “an advocate for families.” Clearly, some restrictions apply. Her election to the U.S. Senate would be a huge threat to LGBT people and families.

State and federal lawmakers have responded to the wave of school anti-gay bullying and the suicides that they contribute to by introducing legislation prohibiting schools from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Conservative Republicans oppose such efforts and have characterized anti-bullying legislation as an infringement of religious freedoms and free speech.

During an April 12th debate, Heather Wilson, a Republican running for U.S. Senate in New Mexico, joined the so-called pro-bullying chorus when she staked out her opposition to SB 555, the Student Non-Discrimination Act. The measure, introduced by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), would provide LGBT students with similar civil rights protections against bullying “as those that currently apply to students based on race and gender.” Wilson argued that the bill would violate students’ free speech rights and criminalize “teasing”:

WILSON: I mean if somebody gets bullied for having, gosh a low voice — that’s never happened to me. … But I think one of the things why I don’t support the act is because I think it’s misplaced. They are things I’m willing to tolerate that I’m not willing to approve.

With respect to this particular agenda we have to recognize as parents that children tease each other because you’re short or you’re tall or you’re a redhead or because you’re ugly or because you’re smart or because you’re dumb or all kinds of differences and as parents we have to deal with that and strengthen our children to be comfortable with themselves and also to show empathy and acceptance towards others, but that particular act is so broad it would actually punish children and say that it’s prohibited to express an opinion with respect to homosexuality in the schools. I just think that’s wrong and it’s a violation of the First Amendment.

Watch it:

Franken’s measure — which is modeled on existing civil rights laws — would establish a new law explicitly protecting children from harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The bill doesn’t criminalize speech; it targets harassment of LGBT students, requires schools to institute a policy of nondiscrimination and take immediate action to investigate and address it. Section 9(b) of the bill specifically addresses Wilson’s concern: “Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter legal standards regarding, or affect the rights available to individuals or groups under, other Federal laws that establish protections for freedom of speech and expression, such as legal standards and rights available to religious and other student groups under the First Amendment and the Equal Access Act .”

The bill, which was introduced in March of last year, has 37 co-sponsors in the Senate and a companion legislation introduced in the House has 157 supporters.