page_title: Martha McSally
section_title: LGBTQ rights
hierarchical_section_title: Martha McSally / Political positions / LGBTQ rights
caption_attribution_description: U.S. Congresswoman Martha McSally and U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Jon Kyl with an attendee at the 2018 Small Business Expo at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.
context_page_description: Martha Elizabeth McSally is an American politician serving as the junior United States Senator for Arizona since 2019. A Republican, she served as the U.S. Representative for Arizona's 2nd congressional district from 2015 to 2019. McSally served in the United States Air Force from 1988 to 2010, achieving the rank of Colonel. She was the first U.S. woman to fly in combat and the first to command a fighter squadron.
  In 2001 McSally successfully sued the United States Department of Defense in McSally v. Rumsfeld, challenging the military policy that required U.S. and U.K. servicewomen stationed in Saudi Arabia to wear the body-covering abaya when traveling off base in the country.
  Following an unsuccessful bid in 2012, McSally was elected to the House of Representatives in 2014. She served two terms as the U.S. Representative for Arizona's 2nd congressional district. McSally was the Republican nominee in Arizona's 2018 U.S. Senate election and lost to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. Following that election, interim U.S. Senator Jon Kyl resigned from the state's other Senate seat, and Governor Doug Ducey appointed McSally to succeed Kyl.
context_section_description: McSally opposes same-sex marriage and in 2018 said "philosophically, I believe marriage is between one man and one woman, and it should be left to the states." After the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which upheld a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, McSally said she would "respect the Supreme Court's decision" but expressed the view that "this debate belongs at the state level."
  She has declined to take a position on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would bar employers with more than 15 employees from engaging in employment discrimination on the basis of an "actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity." During her 2010 campaign, McSally indicated on a Center for Arizona Policy questionnaire that she opposes such additions to anti-discrimination law.
  In May 2016 McSally voted for a bill that would have dismantled the Obama administration's executive action that made it illegal for government contractors to discriminate against people based on sexual orientation.
caption: Congresswoman Martha McSally, Senators Susan Collins & Jon Kyl at 2018 Small Business Expo in Phoenix, Arizona
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark III", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2018:10:31 15:23:36", "Image Artist": "", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "256", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1144", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1258", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "13149", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "2000", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "2000", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2018:10:31 12:43:18", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2018:10:31 12:43:18", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "67/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "44", "EXIF SubSecTime": "69", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "69", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "69", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4778", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3185", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1920000/487", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "320000/81", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": "", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "182029018027", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[24, 70, 0, 0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "3955005641"}