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by Nick Morrow •
Today, the Human Rights Campaign issued the following statement in response to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court despite her decades-long anti-LGBTQ record.
“This confirmation vote is an affront to the civil rights of millions of LGBTQ Americans,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “Make no mistake: Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to the Supreme Court is a direct threat to LGBTQ equality. She has refused to say that the decriminalization of LGBTQ intimate conduct was correctly decided in Lawrence v. Texas and she openly disagreed with the decision in Obergefell v. Hodges – which brought marriage equality to every state in the country. And, she has repeatedly aligned herself with anti-LGBTQ extremists. She appeared time and time again as a paid speaker for the Alliance Defending Freedom – an unabashedly anti-LGBTQ hate group that supports the criminalization of homosexuality and the forced sterilization of transgender people.
“The LGBTQ community’s rights hinge far too often on narrow Supreme Court victories,” continued David. “From the freedom to be ourselves without fear of arrest to receiving protections from being fired from our jobs, from marriage equality to health care access, we rely on the Court to affirm our dignity and rights. Today’s vote is an endorsement by the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee of Judge Barrett’s prejudiced and deeply concerning allegiances, and an abdication of their responsibility to protect the rights of all Americans. We implore the full Senate to reject her nomination.”
The Human Rights Campaign recently released a report on Amy Coney Barrett’s troubling record. To read the full report, click here.
Barrett has demonstrated hostility toward LGBTQ rights in her words and rulings. She defended the Supreme Court’s dissenters on the landmark marriage equality case of Obergefell v. Hodges, questioning the role of the court in deciding the case. She said Title IX protections do not extend to transgender Americans, claiming it’s a “strain on the text” to reach that interpretation. She misgendered transgender people, referring to a transgender women as “physiological males,” while casting doubt on transgender rights. Barrett has also consistently demonstrated opposition to reproductive rights, calling Roe v. Wade an “erroneous decision.” She also refused to rehear a racial segregation case, raising significant concerns about her approach to Civil Rights law.
She has criticized the ruling which upheld the Affordable Care Act—which has helped millions attain quality, affordable healthcare—and expressed opinions that suggest she would strike down the law. Days after the election, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an argument in a case that could undermine this transformative piece of legislation, and with it the healthcare security of tens of millions of people, including a disproportionate number of LGBTQ people.
The day after Election Day, the Court will hear Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, which considers whether governments must allow taxpayer-funded organizations to discriminate against LGBTQ people when providing critical services. A ruling hostile to equality in this case could have staggering consequences for American social safety net programs including services for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, runaway youth, refugees, and those needing emergency shelters and services.
Her hostility towards many of society’s most marginalized, victimized and vulnerable groups raises serious concerns about her ability to be impartial and fairly consider the rights of all who come before the Court, including LGBTQ people; therefore, the Human Rights Campaign opposes her nomination in the strongest terms and will work steadfastly against it.
To make a general inquiry, please visit our contact page. Members of the media can reach our press office at: (202) 572-8968 or email press@hrc.org.
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