page_title: Libertarian Party (United States)
section_title: Social issues
hierarchical_section_title: Libertarian Party (United States) / Political positions / Social issues
caption_attribution_description: English: Libertarian Party members at major pro-choice rally in Washington, DC, November 12, 1989.
context_page_description: The Libertarian Party is a political party in the United States that promotes civil liberties, non-interventionism, laissez-faire capitalism, and limiting the size and scope of government. The party was conceived in August 1971 at meetings in the home of David F. Nolan in Westminster, Colorado, and was officially formed on December 11, 1971 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The founding of the party was prompted in part due to concerns about the Nixon administration, the Vietnam War, conscription, and the introduction of fiat money.
  The party generally promotes a classical liberal platform, in contrast to the Democratic Party's modern liberalism and progressivism and the Republican Party's conservatism. Gary Johnson, the party's presidential nominee in 2012 and 2016, states that the Libertarian Party is more culturally liberal than Democrats, and more fiscally conservative than Republicans. Current fiscal policy positions include lowering taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, decreasing the national debt, allowing people to opt out of Social Security and eliminating the welfare state, in part by utilizing private charities.
context_section_description: The Libertarian Party supports the legalization of all victimless crimes, including drugs, pornography, prostitution, polygamy, and gambling, supports the removal of restrictions on homosexuality, opposes any kind of censorship and supports freedom of speech, and supports the right to keep and bear arms while opposing Federal capital punishment. The Libertarian Party's platform states: "Government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal relationships. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships".
caption: A Libertarian banner at an abortion rights rally
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