November 1, 2022
Kistner: The Equality Act will “hurt” Americans
Burnsville, MN – During his second run for Congress, Kistner has done his best to publicly steer away from social issues where his extreme views could cost him support, as has been the case with abortion. But as public statements from Justice Clarence Thomas and congressional Republicans put rolling back marriage equality at the center of the GOP agenda, insight into Kistner’s views are critical for voters.
In 2020, Kistner told the Minnesota Family Council he would support discrimination against same-sex couples in the name of religious freedom. The same response was listed on the group’s 2022 voter guide.
During a 2020 candidate forum, Kistner stated his opposition to the protections of the Equality Act, saying it would “hurt everything that we’ve achieved so far.” He also repeated harmful GOP talking points about transgender people, saying equality measures put his wife and daughter’s “security at risk because now you have this gender identity where you can have any man say he is a woman and walk into a bathroom and possibly do – I don’t even want to imagine.”
The Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Kistner is endorsed by Minnesota State Rep. Steve Drazkowski, who proposed a Minnesota constitutional amendment on the “definition of marriage” which he believes is between “one man and one woman.”
“Tyler Kistner talks a lot about ‘family values,’ but his version only applies to some families. If he gets to Congress, he’ll be another vote for the GOP’s hateful, divisive agenda,” said Angie Craig for Congress campaign manager Wellesley Daniels. “Minnesotans don’t want the government to be involved in their personal decisions – especially not the decision of who they can and cannot marry. As usual, Kistner’s extremist views are out of touch with the Second District.”