Former President Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. president, will be remembered as a staunch LGBTQ+ ally, although it took him time to evolve on some issues.
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The former president and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner died on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, after over a year in hospice care. He is the longest-lived U.S. president.
Carter passed away at his home in Plains, Ga. — the same house he and his wife Rosalynn, who died last year, spent the majority of their lives, according to The Carter Center (via The Advocate).
“Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
(L-R) Amy Carter, Jimmy Carter, and James "Chip" Carter.ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
James “Chip” Carter, one of the former president’s sons, published the following statement on CarterCenter.org:
“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love. My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”
(L-R) Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Rosalynn Carter, Jimmy Carter, Dr. Jill Biden, and Joe Biden.HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
President Joe Biden issued an official statement about Jimmy Carter’s passing, as reported by The New York Times. The statement reads:
“Today, America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian. Over six decades, we had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well.”
Biden continued, “With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe. He was a man of great character and courage, hope and optimism. We will always cherish seeing him and Rosalynn together. The love shared between Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter is the definition of partnership and their humble leadership is the definition of patriotism.”
LGBTQ+ rights group the Human Rights Campaign remembered Carter’s queer rights legacy in a statement on Sunday.
“All of us at the Human Rights Campaign feel an immense loss with the passing of former President Jimmy Carter,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “In recent years, he became a prominent voice in support of LGBTQ+ rights, speaking out for marriage equality at a time when most national leaders in the U.S. still opposed it."
The statement continued:
"For decades after he left the White House, he continued to make public service his enduring priority through his work with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Presidential Center, cementing his reputation as a champion for human rights and as one of the all time great former presidents. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and all who mourn him.”
Carter was a devout Christian, but his faith did not include homophobia. In 2015, he said Jesus Christ would approve of marriage equality. Here’s a look his record on LGBTQ+ rights.
Jimmy Carter’s administration was the first to welcome gay and lesbian rights activists to the White House.
Carter did not attend the meeting himself (he was at the presidential retreat, Camp David, at the time), but on March 26, 1977, two months into his presidency, representatives of what was then called the National Gay Task Force met with members of the administration. The session was organized by Carter aide Midge Costanza.
Attendees were asked to draft a white paper on an issue of importance to the community that would then be circulated to federal agencies. One of them, George Raya, wrote about health issues. He found out that hepatitis was the disease most affecting gay people at the time, and his paper led the federal government to fund a hepatitis research project in San Francisco, and a few years later it provided valuable information to AIDS researchers.
In 1978, Carter was in San Francisco campaigning for the reelection of Gov. Jerry Brown. In that same election, Proposition 6, also known as the Briggs Initiative, was on the California ballot, asking voters to bar gays and lesbians from teaching in the public schools. Former President Gerald Ford and future President Ronald Reagan had already spoken out against it, and Carter did so as well, albeit with a nudge from Brown. Urged on by the governor, Carter “leaned into the microphone, asking voters already inclined to check No on 6 to do so. The crowd roared its approval,” according to the Journal of Policy History.
(L-R) Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Richard Nixon.HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Carter left the White House in 1981 after a single term, losing to Reagan amid economic problems and the Iran hostage crisis. With his work in international diplomacy and global human rights, plus his volunteer efforts for Habitat for Humanity and other organizations, Carter became known as the nation’s greatest ex-president. His advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights became stronger too.
In 2005, upon the publication of his book Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis, he gave an interview to The Advocate. Reporter Sean Kennedy said, “You’re a Christian, but you don’t have a problem with gay men and lesbians as many other Christians do. Why?” Carter responded, “I’m a worshipper of Jesus Christ, who never mentioned homosexuals in any way — certainly not in a deleterious fashion. And when it has been mentioned in the New Testament, it’s been combined with things like selfishness or something like that. So I’ve never looked upon it as any sort of reason to condemn a person. I think it’s an inherent characteristic just like other things that we do with our lives.”
He was not yet a supporter of national marriage equality, however. In 2006, speaking to an audience at Emory University, he said marriage rights should be decided state by state. “You can’t take away what people believe in, and laws should be based on what each state believes in,” he said, “because each one has their different beliefs.”
Jimmy Carter in 2015.Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
By 2015, when the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling took marriage equality nationwide, Carter approved and said it fit within his religious beliefs. “I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else,” he said in a HuffPost Live interview. “And I don’t see that gay marriage damages anyone else. … I believe Jesus would approve gay marriage. That’s just my own personal opinion.”
He agreed that no church should have to perform a marriage it didn’t approve of, but he had also long advocated for greater acceptance within faith bodies. He left the Southern Baptist denomination in 2000 over what he called its “rigid” beliefs. Among other things, the church teaches that being LGBTQ+ is wrong, and it does not allow women to be ministers.
Carter spoke out for equal rights in the military as well. In 2007, he called for an end to “don’t ask, don’t tell.” “The nation’s commitment to human rights requires that lawmakers revisit ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ the current policy that prevents lesbians, gays, and bisexuals from serving openly in our armed forces,” he said in a statement issued through the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ is the only law in America today that regulates a group of citizens, then prohibits them from identifying themselves and speaking up on their own behalf.”
He continued, “Gay soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines are unable to tell their member of Congress or their commander that the policy is an abject failure, and they are living proof because they will face discharge. Those who defend our liberties and freedoms deserve better.... There are great differences in public opinion on social issues today compared to 20 years ago. When I served as president, the majority in our country did not support equality for gay Americans, but that has now changed.” The policy ended in 2011 under President Barack Obama.
The Carter Center announced that public observances will be held in Atlanta and D.C. in addition to a private interment in Plains. The scheduling will be announced soon.
