As SCOTUS Threatens An Extreme Rightward Tilt, HRC President Calls Out Thomas, Alito for Renewed War on Marriage Equality

by HRC Staff

Post submitted by Lucas Acosta (he/him), former Deputy Director of Communications, Politics

As confirmation hearings near for Amy Coney Barrett, a far-right social conservative who has publicly opposed SCOTUS marriage equality decisions, the Human Rights Campaign sharply called out Justices Thomas and Alito for paving the way for an anti-equality court. Specifically, language written regarding a denial of a writ of certiorari in a case brought by well-known extremist Kim Davis in which the two justices renewed their war on marriage equality.

HRC President Alphonso David issued the following statement:

“This morning, Justices Thomas and Alito renewed their war on LGBTQ rights and marriage equality, as the court hangs in the balance. The language related to this denial of certiorari proves yet again that a segment of the Court views LGBTQ rights as ‘ruinous’ and remains dead set against protecting and preserving the rights of LGBTQ peoples. Joined by a potential new far-right anti-equality extremist Amy Coney Barrett, the Court could significantly water down what marriage equality means for LGBTQ couples across the nation. From eliminating hospital visitation rights and medical decision-making in religiously affiliated medical centers to granting businesses a license to discriminate against LGBTQ couples, ‘skim-milk marriage’ would have a devastating effect on our community’s ability to live freely and openly.

“Our love is valid, our love is equal, and our rights must be.

“Amy Coney Barrett has openly claimed to hold similar views to Scalia, who Thomas and Alito channel with this opinion. That fact, along with Barrett’s ties to anti-equality extremist groups who aim to criminalize LGBTQ relationships in the United States and abroad, shows that Barrett will only embolden these anti-equality extremist views on the Court.”

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SCOTUS