GLAAD President: Judge Kavanaugh Refuses to Answer Simple Questions on the Dignity of LGBTQ Americans and Is Unfit to Serve on the Supreme Court

GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today applauded Senator Kamala Harris and Senator Cory Booker for questioning Judge Brett Kavanaugh on LGBTQ issues during the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for his nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States. GLAAD previously called on members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to ask suggested LGBTQ questions during the confirmation hearing.

Today GLAAD slammed Judge Kavanaugh’s refusal to answer questions from Senators Harris and Booker. GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahkateellis/status/1038067168771039232.

GLAAD is also encouraging people to contact their Senators and ask them to oppose his confirmation at the Amp Your Voice Action Center.

“Judge Kavanaugh refuses to answer simple questions on the dignity of LGBTQ Americans and is unfit to serve on the Supreme Court,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “With the world watching, Kavanaugh refused to tell LGBTQ Americans that we deserve equal protections under the law and Congress should take action before appointing him to a lifetime position where he will no doubt work to undermine our basic rights to liberty and justice.”

VIDEO: LGBTQ QUESTIONS DURING KAVANAUGH HEARING AND GLAAD RESPONSE

Last night, Senator Kamala Harris first questioned Kavanaugh on the Obergefell v. Hodges case, which brought marriage equality nationwide. Judge Kavanaugh responded with an explanation of the judicial history leading up to the case. This was met with additional questions from Senator Harris. She said: “My question is very specific. Can you comment, on your personal opinion, on whether Obergefell was correctly decided? It’s a yes or no. Please.”

Kavanaugh declined to answer directly. Full transcript available via AlterNet.

GLAAD SHARED VIDEO OF SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS’ LGBTQ QUESTIONS: https://twitter.com/glaad/status/1038061107821379584

Kavanaugh later refused to respond to Senator Cory Booker when asked if it should be legal to fire someone just because they are LGBTQ. Senator Booker asked: “Do we have a legal right to fire somebody just because they’re gay, in your opinion?”

Kavanaugh declined to answer directly.

Senator Booker continued to raise questions around Kavanaugh’s previous support for an amendment that would ban marriage for gay and lesbian couples when he served in the Bush Administration.

GLAAD SHARED VIDEO FROM PSB NEWSHOUR OF SENATOR BOOKER’S QUESTIONS: https://twitter.com/glaad/status/1038066129527287809

If confirmed, Kavanaugh could carry out the expressed views of President Trump, who as a candidate stated that he disagreed with the Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges and said he would “strongly consider” appointing judges who would overturn the decision.

GLAAD’s Campus Ambassador Tony Hernandez previously delivered a letter on behalf of GLAAD to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee with suggested questions around Kavanaugh’s record of anti-LGBTQ responses to cases involving marriage equality as well as his close ties to anti-LGBTQ organizations. GLAAD also released videos via Instagram and Twitter of other GLAAD Campus Ambassadors reading their own suggested questions for Justice Kavanaugh including “Do you believe doctors have a right to deny medical services to transgender patients,” and “Do you think an employer should be able to fire one of their employees just because they identify as LGBTQ?”

Judge Kavanaugh’s Anti-LGBTQ Record

Judge Kavanaugh has described Justice Antonin Scalia, as a “hero” and a “judicial role model,” and has praised his dissent in Obergefell v. Hodges — the landmark ruling that made marriage equality legal in all fifty states. Throughout his career, Justice Scalia spoke extensively about his hostility towards LGBTQ people, even comparing being gay to murder. In his dissent in Obergefell v. Hodges, Scalia argued that the legalization of marriage equality was a “threat to American democracy” that “robs the People.”

While serving in the George W. Bush administration, Judge Kavanaugh worked closely with the team that pushed for the so-called Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have defined marriage in the United States as a union of one man and one woman under federal law.

Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the D.C. District Court of Appeals was supported by the Family Research Council (FRC), which has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The FRC operates on the belief that LGBTQ people are a threat to American society.

The Federalist Society, a pipeline for conservative judges to gain appointments, including to the Supreme Court, vetted Judge Kavanaugh. The Federalist Society has produced materials arguing against every major LGBTQ policy proposal including the Employment Non Discrimination Act, hate crimes legislation, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and transgender accommodations. Kavanaugh has been a member of the Federalist Society which was also instrumental in Chief Justice Roberts’ nomination and confirmation along with Justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito, all of whom were members.

Kavanaugh was also vetted, and is considered to be a “stellar” judge, by  the virulently anti-LGBTQ Heritage Foundation, which has claimed that marriage equality would make people less monogamous, increase abortions, and eventually lead to “group marriage,” and consistently opposes transgender rights.   

Should Kavanaugh be confirmed, marriage equality would not be the only Supreme Court precedent in jeopardy. As a candidate, President Trump stated that he will only put “pro-life” judges on the court, and that he wants to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that recognized that the constitutional right to privacy extends to a woman’s right to make personal medical decisions, including access to abortion. Kavanaugh dissented on a recent decision that allowed an immigrant teenager to access an abortion.