The Atlantic

Democrats Are Going to Regret Beto’s Stance on Conservative Churches

The candidate seems not to realize that eliminating tax exemptions for certain religious institutions would be catastrophic.
Source: Mike Blake / Reuters

The issue of gay rights and recognition and acceptance of the LGBTQ community has moved at warp speed—in political terms anyway—this past decade.

“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage,” said the candidate Barack Obama in 2008.

At Thursday night’s nationally televised forum on LGBTQ rights, candidate Beto O’Rourke showed how far, and how quickly, the Democratic Party has moved. The former Texas congressman caused quite a stir when he said he would support revoking the tax-exempt status of religious institutions—colleges, churches, and charities—if they opposed same-sex marriage.

Though his swift “yes” in response to the CNN moderator

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