John Eastman

—12.20.2022 Subject of criminal referral to the Department of Justice for his role in the attempt to overthrow the government. January 6^th Committee investigating the insurrection recommended Eastman be charged with obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Before Eastman tried to interfere with the 2020 vote count, he has moved against LGBTQ+ rights, as chairman of the board of the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposing marriage equality and other extremist causes. NOM’s website still lists him as chairman. NOM remains active on Twitter and Facebook, most recently opposing the Respect for Marriage Act, which passed in Congress with bipartisan support and President Biden signed into law.

—Has voiced support for Uganda’s notorious push to imprison, and in some cases impose the death penalty for being LGBTQ, and those who “promote” homosexuality.

—Called the Supreme Court’s marriage ruling a “similarly illegitimate decision by the Supreme Court” as the notorious Dred Scott ruling in support of slavery; called on officials to reject it

–Wrote a very controversial opinion piece in Newsweek questioning Kamala Harris’s eligibility to be elected U.S. Vice President. Newsweek updated post to say “This op-ed is being used by some as a tool to perpetuate racism and xenophobia. We apologize. The essay, by John Eastman, was intended to explore a minority legal argument about the definition of who is a “natural-born citizen” in the United States. But to many readers, the essay inevitably conveyed the ugly message that Senator Kamala Harris, a woman of color and the child of immigrants, was somehow not truly American.”

—Said: “This is not about anti-discrimination laws any more. This is about forcing people to bend the knee to an agenda to say things that are inherently immoral are in fact normal and moral.… It’s a very fascist movement that forces a viewpoint on other people that disagree…. We’re finding challenges to age of consent rules because a good portion of this movement seeks to remove age of consent so they can have sex with teenage boys.”

—Wrote that homosexuality is a modern form of “barbarism.” Added: “And homosexuality, like polygamy, has for centuries been thought to undermine the institution of marriage and the civil society that rests on it.”

—Endorsed a book called Making Gay Okay that criticizes basic approval of “homosexual behavior,” that the book “explain[s] the full scope of the dangers inherent in the modern homosexual rights movement. The movement threatens our very understanding of human nature, and hence of the American political regime that derives its understanding of rights and legitimate government from that nature. This book is a stark warning that should be read by every lover of liberty, and a call to action for those who would preserve it.”

—When U.S. Senator Rick Santorum equated same-sex marriage with “man-on-dog,” Eastman defended him by saying “the real ‘crisis’ is not with Santorum’s comments, but with the inability of Republicans to provide a coherent defense.” Eastman linked to a piece written by extremist Scott Lively, in which Lively wrote that society must “discourage the normalization of homosexuality.”

—Said same-sex marriage will have “catastrophic consequences for civil society.”

—Fought to repeal a California law that included the contributions of LGBTQ people in public school instruction, saying his was “an effort to restore some common sense to our schools.”

—Spoke out against gay-straight alliances in public schools, writing that “our public schools are not supposed to be forums for alternative lifestyles, nor incubators of moral relativism.”