Post by Logan on Mar 28, 2017 1:44:18 GMT -6
As the executive director of Fairness West Virginia, the statewide LGBTQ civil rights advocacy organization, I work every day to make concepts like equal opportunity and dignity under the law “real” for the 46,000 LGBTQ people living in this state.
As I think about the critical issues facing the LGBTQ community and all West Virginians — from workplace discrimination and safe schools to good jobs and the mental health of our young people — I’m looking for judges and justices who share my commitment to our core constitutional values to guide our democracy through trying times. I have deep concerns that President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, who the Senate is holding hearings on this week, views the Constitution in a manner that may cause the court to roll back civil rights for LGBTQ Americans.
When it comes to fairness and equality, Gorsuch’s record is troubling. As a lawyer, scholar and judge, he has positioned himself as an obstacle to justice and fairness for those seeking relief in court — including LGBTQ people seeking nothing more than the chance to live their lives in peace. It’s because of this reason that I urge Senators Manchin and Capito to vote against Judge Gorsuch’s nomination to the court.
Gorsuch’s repeated failure to defend the rights of LGBTQ people flies in the face of his purported loyalty to the spirit of equal justice under the law. In 2004, he revealed in his doctoral dissertation at Oxford that he thought the Constitution did not protect a right to same-sex marriage. In 2005, he wrote an op-ed criticizing civil rights advocates attempting to vindicate the rights of LGBTQ people in court. He has since ruled against a transgender employee discriminated against by her employers and joined a ruling declaring that private corporations have the right to deny critical health care to employees if doing so violates the owners’ religious beliefs — a decision which could have dangerous consequences for vulnerable LGBTQ communities.
- See more at: www.wvgazettemail.com/gazette-op-ed-commentaries/20170322/andrew-schneider-lgbtq-in-wv-be-concerned-about-gorsuch-gazette
As I think about the critical issues facing the LGBTQ community and all West Virginians — from workplace discrimination and safe schools to good jobs and the mental health of our young people — I’m looking for judges and justices who share my commitment to our core constitutional values to guide our democracy through trying times. I have deep concerns that President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, who the Senate is holding hearings on this week, views the Constitution in a manner that may cause the court to roll back civil rights for LGBTQ Americans.
When it comes to fairness and equality, Gorsuch’s record is troubling. As a lawyer, scholar and judge, he has positioned himself as an obstacle to justice and fairness for those seeking relief in court — including LGBTQ people seeking nothing more than the chance to live their lives in peace. It’s because of this reason that I urge Senators Manchin and Capito to vote against Judge Gorsuch’s nomination to the court.
Gorsuch’s repeated failure to defend the rights of LGBTQ people flies in the face of his purported loyalty to the spirit of equal justice under the law. In 2004, he revealed in his doctoral dissertation at Oxford that he thought the Constitution did not protect a right to same-sex marriage. In 2005, he wrote an op-ed criticizing civil rights advocates attempting to vindicate the rights of LGBTQ people in court. He has since ruled against a transgender employee discriminated against by her employers and joined a ruling declaring that private corporations have the right to deny critical health care to employees if doing so violates the owners’ religious beliefs — a decision which could have dangerous consequences for vulnerable LGBTQ communities.
- See more at: www.wvgazettemail.com/gazette-op-ed-commentaries/20170322/andrew-schneider-lgbtq-in-wv-be-concerned-about-gorsuch-gazette