John Cornyn

—Twice criticized the landmark 2015 Obergefell marriage equality ruling during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson, falsely claiming Obergefell was “a dramatic departure from previous laws” that contradicted “234 years” of history.

—Argued that that state governments ought to have the power to ban same-sex marriage.

—Described the Obergefell decision on the Senate floor as a “startling display of judicial activism that so threatens our fundamental institutions and our values.”

—Played a leading role in an attempt to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

—Dismissed as “myth” the notion that same-sex marriage doesn’t harm the marriage of other people and said that marriage equality would “only accelerate the deterioration of family life.”

—Vowed if elected to the U.S. Senate to do all in his power to prevent making violence prompted by a victims’ sexual orientation a federal crime.

—Opposes adoption by same-sex couples.

—While serving on the Texas Supreme Court in the 1990s, ruled with the majority to overturn a lower court ruling, State v. Morales, that had found Texas’s anti-sodomy laws to be unconstitutional. The result was to keep the anti-LGBTQ laws in place. He questioned the merits of the case, asking how gay people were harmed by laws if those laws were not enforced.