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2020 U.S. Presidential Campaign

Fiorina backs religious freedom law, marriage equality

Susan Page
USA TODAY

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Republican presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina defends Indiana's "religious freedom" law, but she acknowledges the right of same-sex couples to demand equality in the "benefits" government bestows with marriage — views that distinguish her in the party's 2016 field.

Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard.

Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who plans to launch a long-shot presidential bid by early next month, didn't explicitly endorse same-sex marriage, but she did outline a stance more moderate and nuanced than those expressed by her prospective rivals.

She blasted business leaders in Silicon Valley and elsewhere who have criticized the Indiana law as discriminatory, questioning why there isn't similar outrage "about the subjugation of the rights of women and gays in many countries in which these companies do business."

"We are having now a clarifying debate about what is really at stake here for gay couples," she told USA TODAY's weekly video newsmaker series. "What's really at stake here for gay couples is how government bestows benefits. What's really at stake here for people of religious conviction is their conviction that marriage is a religious institution because only a man and a woman can create life, which is a gift that comes from God.

"And I think both of those points of view are valid, and I really hope that we come to a place in this country where we are prepared to have respectful differences and tolerate those two views."

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

The issue of gay marriage and religious freedom — and the potential conflict between the two — is erupting in statehouses and threatening to divide the Republican Party. Wednesday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson sent a proposed religious freedom law back to the state Legislature for revisions. Tuesday, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence asked his Legislature to take action to "clarify" that the state's new law doesn't legalize discrimination against gay men and lesbians.

The other prospective 2016 contenders in the GOP oppose gay marriage, though they differ on what to do next. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have indicated that court decisions legalizing same-sex marriage settled the issue in their states, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee vow to keep fighting.

The issue isn't likely to go away anytime soon: The Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments at the end of this month on a case that could recognize a constitutional right nationwide for gay couples to wed.

Fiorina said it was "shameful" how, in her view, liberals have fanned the furor over the Indiana law. "I honestly believe this is a set of liberal political activists who practice a game of identity politics and divisive politics to whip people into a frenzy, and I think it's very destructive to the fabric of this country," she said.

Still, some of the most effective opposition came from business and corporate leaders in Indiana, Silicon Valley and elsewhere, who spoke out against the law.

"Well, frankly, I think they were responding to pressure, and I think it's too bad," she said. "It's interesting to me that there isn't the same outrage in the Twitterverse about the subjugation of the rights of women and gays in many countries in which these companies do business. Where is the outrage about that? Where is the outrage about how gays are treated in Iran, for example? Where is the outrage about how women are treated in Algeria?"

The walls in Fiorina's austere new offices in suburban Virginia are decorated with posters showing covers of Votes for Women, a suffragette magazine published early in the 20th century, and the cover of another women's magazine, Leslie's, from 1920, celebrating women's right to vote.

Fiorina, 60, who unsuccessfully challenged Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer in California's Senate race in 2010, acknowledged she would need to "exceed expectations" in the presidential race. She has never held elective office, and she apparently will be the only woman in a large GOP field.

"The debates are very important," she said. "The debates are important for everyone, but I think they're certainly important for me because it's a time when Republican primary voters focus their attention on the issues and on the field, and I think it's fair to say I'll stand out. I have a different experience, a different perspective, a different voice — and I look different, besides."

See more of the interview with Carly Fiorina on 'Capital Download' at 8:30 a.m. Sunday on WUSA9 and live-streamed on www.WUSA9.com.

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