Anti-LGBT politician explains why he opposes his own gay brother’s rights
A politician has defended his fight to minimise to his own gay brother’s equal rights.
The Democratic Governor of Louisiana this year signed an executive order protecting state employees and contractors from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
State Republicans vowed to oppose the move, and Attorney General Jeff Landry sued the governor, convincing a court this week to throw out those explicit protections that do not exist under state law.
Mr Landry, whose legal challenge was crucial in minimising equal rights protections for LGBT people in Louisiana, is facing condemnation from an unlikely source – his own brother.
Nicholas Landry, who is openly gay, explained in a YouTube video how his brother’s crusade against LGBT equality had torn the family apart.
In a YouTube video filmed during the case last month he said: “I’m standing on my own, and I know I may lose my family after this but I know I can’t sit silent anymore, for me and for so many other people who just want the right to love someone.
“What is important is who my brother is. My brother’s the Attorney General of Louisiana. I’m not really into politics, but Jeffrey is suing the federal government to block the right for equal marriage and equal rights in the of Louisiana.
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“I can’t sit silent anymore because although I’m not political, I am a human being, and I just want my rights. It’s [this] kind of hatred and that kind of bigotry and that type kind of discrimination that is just uncalled for.”
In an interview with WGNO, Attorney General Jeff Landry said the law was more important than his brother’s rights.
Asked how he would feel if his brother was discriminated against at work, he said: “He has a process by which he can air that grievance [within the workplace], we all do if we feel we’re being discriminated against.
“I love my brother, that’s unquestionable, but I would tell him the same thing….we have to respect the law and we have to respect the Constitution. We don’t always agree but we have to respect that also.”
Asked if he is on the wrong side of history, Mr Landry insisted: “History is determined by the lawmakers.”
