LA LGBT Center and others respond to Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett
In response to President Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the United States Supreme Court, the Los Angeles LGBT Center issued the following statement:
“The Center calls on all U.S. Senators to reject the radicalism exemplified by President Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett.
Yet again, Trump has nominated a candidate whose judicial views—as evidenced by her court rulings, speeches, and public statements—place her far outside the mainstream. Barrett’s judicial opinions—ranging from the rejection of protections for the LGBTQ community to extreme views on reasonable gun reforms to limiting the reproductive rights of women—should frighten all people who stand for social justice, and especially those who believe in equality for women and LGBTQ people.
The fact that the president would nominate Barrett to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is especially galling. Justice Ginsburg did more than anyone to advance gender equality within the courts, and this nomination should be rightly understood as an affront to women and our allies everywhere.
“The last four years have been an assault on the rights and dignity of LGBTQ people across the country, led by Donald Trump, Mike Pence and Mitch McConnell’s prioritization of power over people.”
With less than six weeks to go until the election, we urge everyone to call their senators and demand that they reject the nomination of Judge Coney Barrett and insist that the position be left vacant until the next presidential term begins. She is not the right choice for our demographically and culturally diverse country. Not now. Not ever.”
Additionally the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ civil rights organization in the nation, released the following statment.
“The last four years have been an assault on the rights and dignity of LGBTQ people across the country, led by Donald Trump, Mike Pence and Mitch McConnell’s prioritization of power over people,” said Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign.
“While people are suffering across the country, instead of offering aid, Trump and McConnell are rushing through a Supreme Court justice – a justice who could deal a fatal blow to people maintaining their basic health care in the middle of a pandemic. The President has dramatically altered the judiciary to try to dismantle hard-fought rights and progress secured over decades – LGBTQ rights, voting rights, reproductive rights and more. Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell has sycophantically installed Trump’s extreme judicial nominees and is now seeking to push the balance of the Supreme Court even further to the fringes. If she is nominated and confirmed, Coney Barrett would work to dismantle all that Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought for during her extraordinary career. An appointment of this magnitude must be made by the president inaugurated in January. The Human Rights Campaign fervently opposes Coney Barrett’s nomination, and this sham process.”
