More than 1 in 4 of Trump’s judicial nominees are anti-LGBT
Donald Trump holds an LGBT rainbow flag given to him by supporter Max Nowak during a campaign rally at the Bank of Colorado Arena on the campus of University of Northern Colorado October 30, 2016 in Greeley, Colorado. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
More than one in four of Trump’s judicial nominees have anti-LGBT records.
While the Trump Administration has enforced several anti-LGBT policies, an analysis of the President’s judicial nominees may prove to be the most alarming.
Lambda Legal, an LGBT legal advocacy group, opposes 27% of Trump’s picks for the judiciary, The Slot has reported.
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Of 59 nominees who Trump has put forward so far, 16 have anti-LGBT records.
That’s more than a dozen nominees who have openly opposed LGBT rights.
Needless to say, if confirmed as judges, there are fears they could attack LGBT protections.
Trump’s attack on the right of trans people to serve in the military has tied up federal courts in an ongoing legal battle which the government is losing, at least for the moment.
Lambda Legal’s director of strategy Sharon McGowan said: “When you look only at the explicit LGBT records of individuals, almost one in three of the nominees from President Trump have been nominated not despite, but probably because of their record targeting the LGBT community”.
“Many of the [other nominees] have troubling civil rights records”.
“We are in the midst of a judicial crisis for LGBT Americans, spurred by Donald Trump’s full-on assault on our rights, our families, and our children”, McGowan added.
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The nominees “have the potential to decimate civil rights in Trump’s vision for generations to come”.
While Trump’s policies can be challenged by courts or reversed by future administrations, judicial appointees can sit on courts for life.
His judicial nominees are also younger than previous Presidents’, meaning they can serve for longer.
This means that if these judges are confirmed, the ramifications could be felt for generations.
They would be free to interpret the law in a discriminatory way for years to come, ensuring Trump’s legacy continues to have an effect long after his presidency ends.
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Trump has also announced plans to appoint a professor from an anti-gay University to a Department of Justice position.
Trump is reportedly appointing white men “at a rate not seen in nearly 30 years” says Lamda Legal, with 81% being white and male and 91% being white.
One nominee, Leonard Steven Grasz, was rated “not qualified” by the American Bar Association.
He was confirmed for the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month, despite comparing gay people to paedophiles and opposing same-sex adoption.
