Religious bigot rallies followers behind Trump’s Supreme Court pick so LGBT+ rights ‘no longer see the light of day’
Brian S Brown at a WCF conference in Verona, Italy (FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/ Getty)
A Republican has urged other conservatives to back Amy Coney Barrett as the new Supreme Court justice so that LGBT+ rights “will no longer see the light of day”.
Brian Brown, head of the anti-gay National Organisation for Marriage, told his followers that it is “absolutely imperative” that Barrett be appointed to the Supreme Court in an email.
Brown, who once compared himself to Jesus and has fought to reverse progress on LGBT+ rights, told followers that they must launch an “unprecedented effort to ensure that this justice confirmed without delay”.
“I’m asking you to make a sacrificial financial gift to [National Organisation for Marriage] right now so that we can immediately deploy a comprehensive pressure campaign aimed at holding Republican Senate votes to confirm president Trump’s pick to the Supreme Court,” Brown wrote, according to an email published by JMG.
“This is a moment that could pay decades of dividends for all the issues we care about,” he added.
“We’ve never had a bigger opportunity to advance our cause. Will you be with us at this historic moment?”
Republican Brian Brown wants Amy Coney Barrett appointed to the Supreme Court so they can roll back LGBT+ rights.
Brown went on to claim that the left “has gone absolutely berserk” since Trump announced the staunchly anti-LGBT+ Roman Catholic as his nominee to the Supreme Court, following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“This is the Supreme Court nomination that could finally bring us a reversal of Roe v Wade and usher in a pro-life majority on the court,” he added.
“It could pave the way for the restoration of marriage to our laws and scrapping the illegitimate, anti-constitutional imposition of same-sex ‘marriage’ on the nation.
“It will mean that religious liberty will be restored to its rightful place as a foundational constitutional right, and that the fake ‘rights’ that are constantly demanded by the left – including special rules for homosexuals and the so-called transgendered – will no longer see the light of day.”
Brown said “LGBT extremists” will do “everything in their power to block” Barrett’s confirmation as a Supreme Court justice.
“It’s imperative that we be on the front lines fighting for control of the Supreme Court by demanding that Republicans support president Trump’s nominee.”
The Roman Catholic Supreme Court nominee has expressed her opposition to same-sex marriage in the past.
Trump officially announced Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court on Saturday (26 September).
LGBT+ organisations and advocates have expressed concern over the nomination because of Barrett’s anti-gay beliefs, as well as her membership of a religious group that declares that husbands are the leaders of their wives.
In 2015, Barrett signed a letter to the Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, declaring support for “the Church’s teachings… on the meaning of human sexuality, the significance of sexual difference and the complementarity of men and women; on openness to life… and on marriage and family founded on the indissoluble commitment of a man and a woman”.
In 2017, Barrett was grilled by Democratic senators during her confirmation hearing to become a United States circuit judge on whether her staunch Catholic beliefs would affect her judgement on issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion.
Senator Dianne Feinstein told Barrett: “The dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for for years in this country.”
At the time, 27 LGBT+ rights groups opposed Barrett’s confirmation in an open letter, expressing concern that “her religiously-infused moral beliefs would inform her judicial decision-making”.
The Roman Catholic judge is set to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg who, in contrast, a feminist icon and champion for equality and LGBT+ rights.
If Barrett is confirmed by the Senate, the Supreme Court would shift to a strong 6 to 3 conservative majority which could remain in place for decades, shaping major legal decisions in the US for years to come.
