News
2005-08-26
Gay groups go on
record opposing Roberts's nomination
Gay groups come
out against John Roberts
The Human Rights
Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbi
Officials from the gay rights groups Human Rights
Campaign, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,
National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Parents,
Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays said
Thursday that they will oppose the nomination of John
Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"He has denigrated the nature and scope of the
constitutional rights to privacy, equal protection,
and due process as well as federal government's role
in confronting injustice," Matt Foreman, executive
director of NGLTF, said in a statement. "I have no doubt
he's an accomplished lawyer and an affable dinner
companion, but that doesn't make him any less a mortal
danger to equal rights for gay people, reproductive
freedom, and affirmative action."
The confirmation hearings for Roberts, 50, are
set to be held before the U.S. Senate on September 6.
He is widely expected to be confirmed.
For gay men and lesbians, Roberts has become a
very perplexing candidate.
Conservatives cite his work in the Reagan and
first Bush administrations against Roe v. Wade.
That case hinged on the same privacy rights that
underlie Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down
sodomy laws across the country. However, Roberts did
pro bono work helping prep the pro-gay civil rights
attorneys who won the landmark 1996 Supreme Court
decision overturning Colorado's Amendment 2. The 1992
ballot measure prohibited any state or local law
protecting gays from discrimination.
"Ultimately this is about an individual's right
to privacy. From women's rights to religious freedom
to civil rights, there is powerful evidence that Judge
Roberts would rule against equality," said Joe
Solmonese, HRC president.
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