LGBTQ+ Rights

Specter’s position as a centrist placed him at the crux of a number of debates, not least of which was an increasing focus on social issues and civil rights. Early in his career, Specter made it a priority to hire a more diverse staff than the Philadelphia DA’s office had seen before, including African-American and female prosecutors. After being elected Senator, his votes on issues such as legalized abortion, healthcare, and immigration were often more left-leaning than many of his Republican colleagues’. His position on the rights of the LGBTQ+ community is an illustrative example of both the evolution of his personal opinion, and the difficulties of maintaining his moderate stance in the face of an increasingly conservative political shift.

In his earlier years in the Senate, Specter’s intersections with the LGBTQ+ community were more a result of their coincidence with his other areas of interest. As part of his ongoing advocacy for access to healthcare in the 1980s, he helped direct increased funding to the NIH and the Department of Health and Human Services. This was partially used to fund research into the AIDS epidemic, which disproportionately affected gay men. The Reagan administration was criticized for being slow to respond, partially because of social stigma surrounding the early victims. Specter supported allocated funding for researching the disease, though his arguments were centered primarily about concern for pediatric and minority patients. In the end, his efforts helped secure funding for research that would lead to treatment and prevention programs that would benefit the LGBTQ+ community.

Stemming from his prosecutorial background, Specter’s focus on strong criminal justice reform saw him advocating more directly for increased civil rights. He was an early sponsor of efforts in the 1990s to pass an Employment Non-Discrimination Act, ensuring that hiring discrimination based on sexual orientation (and later gender identity) would be prohibited. He also co-sponsored the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999, which in part sought to create a federal law defining sexual orientation as a suspect classification. Both Acts would not be passed for a decade or more, signaling a slow shift in public opinion.

Senator Specter’s own evolving stance reflected that of many of his constituents. While he was vocally opposed to the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy concerning LGBTQ+ members of the military, he did initially support the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Passed in 1996, DOMA legally defined marriage as existing only between a man and woman, allowing states the authority to decide if they would recognize same-sex marriages. His opinions in later years, though- such as voting against a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage- differed from the majority of his Republican colleagues and the socially conservative Party platform. By the end of his career, Specter would publicly call for DOMA’s repeal, though he would not live to see the process come to fruition.

Specter’s efforts over the years contributed to an increased recognition of civil rights, on the federal level, for members of the LGBTQ+ community. The moderate stance became increasingly untenable as his Party moved towards the right and his own views aligned more with those of his Democratic colleagues- a shift which resulted in his change of Party affiliation. His role in LGBTQ+ advocacy was reflective of changing personal and constituent opinions, as well as his firm belief in inclusion and equal protection for all citizens under the law.