If we established purity tests for elected officials, nobody would pass, said Emily Hecht-McGowan, who served as director for L.G.B.T.Q. equality at the Biden Foundation, a nonprofit group, until it was disbanded in 2019 when he began his presidential run. If we keep holding up our elected officials to these purity tests, we will never grow us a nation.

Mr. Griffin, the political consultant, said he was not bothered by the Defense of Marriage Act vote that, he noted, was 25, 26 years ago, when I was 19 years old and still in the closet.

Joe Biden has had 25 years since then to establish his own record and legacy, he said. I do not think that anyone can define Joe Biden by a vote 25 years ago when he has literally spent more than a decade championing L.G.B.T.Q. rights.

From the first weeks after the riots at the Stonewall Inn and the start of the modern-day gay rights movement, L.G.B.T.Q. leaders called for gay men and lesbians to come out. The explicit strategy was that increased visibility as family members, co-workers, civic leaders, celebrities would lead to more acceptance by the general public. One of Mr. Bidens grandchildren identifies as L.G.B.T.Q., an aide said.

Ms. McBride said that Mr. Biden grieved with her after her husband died at the age of 28; Mr. Biden had just lost his own son. He has officiated at two gay weddings, including in 2017 when Henry R. Muoz III, who was then the Democratic National Committees finance chairman, married his husband at Mr. Bidens home at the time in Northern Virginia.

He let me work alongside of him to push people in the administration on marriage equality, and then he married me, Mr. Muoz said.

The moment that elevated Mr. Bidens standing among gay and lesbian activists was his appearance on NBCs Meet the Press as vice president in 2012 when, in response to a question, he said he supported same-sex marriage. His response, which aides said was not calculated or planned, blindsided the White House and Mr. Obama, who had not yet staked out that position.

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Behind Joe Bidens Evolution on L.G.B.T.Q. Rights - The New York Times