With the state Supreme Court about to rule on the constitutionality of the state's same-sex marriage ban, departing Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe said Wednesday that he still believes that marriage is a union between a man and a woman.
Asked by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette editorial page columnist John Brummett whether Beebe thought he was going to be on the wrong side of history in opposing gay marriage with numerous courts across the ruling declaring it legal, Beebe said, "I can't worry about that. I have to believe what I believe.
"I may well be on the wrong side of history on that and on a lot of things," Beebe, an attorney, said during an interview held as a fundraiser for LifeQuest -- a group that provides classes for senior citizens.
The governor's comments, delivered at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, were taped for Sunday's Talk Business & Politics program on KATV.
Pressed by Brummett on why he doesn't support gay marriage, the Democrat from Searcy said, "I suppose it's just the tradition where I come from, or the way I was raised, and what I think."
Three years ago, Beebe told the pro-gay marriage Stonewall Democratic Caucus that he didn't support same-sex marriage or civil unions.
Beebe said Wednesday that he's "modified a little bit on some aspect of that" opposition to civil unions for gays.
"In terms of discrimination in employment, discrimination in the ability of people to have insurance, to the extent that civil unions encompass that, I have moved in that direction," he said.
Last month, a federal judge declared the state's ban on gay marriage to be unconstitutional.
In 2006, the Stonewall Democratic Caucus withdrew its endorsement of Beebe during his initial campaign for governor after Beebe opposed allowing gays to be foster parents and rejected a campaign contribution from the group.
In 2008, voters approved an initiated act banning all cohabiting unmarried people from being foster parents or adopting. Initiated Act 1 of 2008 passed with 57 percent of the vote. Beebe opposed that effort.
In 2011, the state Supreme Court struck down the restrictions, saying in its opinion that the restrictions violated the right to sexual privacy.
Asked by Brummett how Beebe is going to cope with sitting in Searcy and not being able to affect anything in the Republican-controlled Legislature next year, Beebe joked, "I sent a resume to [Walter] Hussman about doing a column," referring to the publisher of the Democrat-Gazette.
"I don't have any immediate plans to do anything," he said.
But Beebe said, "I have conjured in my mind some options, none of which are full time.
"I may serve on a board or two. I may teach a college course. I may consult -- not as a lobbyist -- but I may talk to folks about economic development, local economic development options in Fayetteville, and Jonesboro, or Little Rock," he said. "I don't plan on doing anything full time, and I am going to let it evolve. I am going to take it easy and see what happens."
But he said he won't practice law or do any lobbying.
Beebe, who will be replaced Jan. 13 by Republican Asa Hutchinson of Rogers, said he doesn't plan to run for elected office again.
"I am about to be 68. While that's young in today's world, it's still time to smell the coffee," he said. "I encourage good people to run, and I don't want to be too much of a hypocrite when I refuse to do it ... I'll never be able to repay the state back for what it has done for me. But I've come about as far as I know to go doing that."
Metro on 12/11/2014