Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has made a habit of signaling that he'll run for President, but when he's not teasing voters he's kept busy by opposing marriage for gay and lesbian couples. 

Bush's homophobic history dates back decades, starting in 1994 when he said that LGBTs shouldn't be entitled to equal treatment under the law: 

The public policy question is whether homosexuals deserve special legal protection from otherwise legal, private acts of discrimination, which protections are not available to smokers, drinkers, children, redheads, Midwesterners, Democrats, veterans, nudists, etc. Or, to put it another way, should sodomy be elevated to the same constitutional status as race and religion? My answer is No. We have enough special categories, enough victims, without creating even more.

He later disavowed that language, but not its meaning. "This opinion editorial from 20 years ago does not reflect Gov. Bush's views now," a spokeswoman told reporters.

But Bush's views on preventing marriage haven't shifted. "I do not support gay marriages being recognized in Florida," he wrote in 2004. "That is the law and it will stay that way." That same year, he wrote to a constituent that LGBTs should simply obtain contracts in place of marriage.

Also in 2004, a Bush spokesman said "The governor believes in the sanctity of marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman."

In 2006, he told the Florida Family Policy Council that he might support a state constitutional ban on marriage. And in 2007, the Florida Republican Party donated $300,000 to a group called "Florida4Marriage," which sought to stop gays and lesbians from obtaining legal protections. Bush was the leader of the party at the time.

And in 2013, he said, "I’m a supporter of traditional marriage. I do think that these decisions should be made at a the state level, so I hope that the constitutional amendment in California is not overturned." He was referring to Proposition 8, which withheld protections from gays and lesbians.

In 2014, he wrote that gay and lesbian parents should be prevented from adopting children, suggesting that there is something wrong with LGBT parents.

In recent years, Jeb Bush has grown increasingly reluctant to take a firm stance on marriage equality. In 2012, he refused to address the issue in detail, calling it a "distraction."

"And we ought to talk about it recognizing that there is more than one point of view, and we should talk about it in a way that is not judgmental," he said in 2013. And in 2014, when marriage became legal in Florida, he told a reporter, "regardless of our disagreements, we have to respect the rule of law." He also said "I hope that we can show respect for the good people on all sides of the gay and lesbian marriage issue – including couples making lifetime commitments to each other who are seeking greater legal protections and those of us who believe marriage is a sacrament and want to safeguard religious liberty."

In other words, Bush has become adept at talking about marriage without actually saying anything of substance.

Bush's aversion to equal treatment for LGBTs doesn't stop at marriage. "He is opposed to same-sex marriages, gay adoptions and the extension of domestic-partners benefits," a spokeswoman told reporters in 2003. 

In the past, Bush has surrounded himself with advisors who have worked to undermine gay and lesbian couples. Bush's liaison to religious groups is Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, which helped to write the federal Defense of Marriage Act.  

But his new communications director is Tim Miller, and openly gay Republican. Miller previously produced opposition research on Democrats, placing particular emphasis on researching Hillary Clinton. Clinton, who supports marriage equality, is expected to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2016.