FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 9, 2018

Contact: 

Lauren Gray, NCLR Communications Director
lgray@nclrights.org / (215) 983-3099

NCLR Responds to Trump’s Nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to Fill Supreme Court Vacancy
NCLR’s Shannon Minter says this “is a wake-up call to LGBTQ people and others about the critical importance of elections and the need to vote this November”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Legal Director Shannon Minter issued the below statement in response to President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Minter, a transgender man who has been litigating LGBTQ legal cases for more than 20 years, is one of the lead attorneys working to stop Trump’s transgender military ban in Doe v. Trump and Stockman v. Trump and was part of the team of attorneys to win national marriage equality in the Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges.

“For decades, the Supreme Court has recognized the fundamental equality of LGBTQ people under the law. The Court’s landmark decisions in cases such as Romer, Lawrence, and Obergefell are deeply rooted in the Court’s jurisprudence and have been relied upon by millions of LGBTQ people and others. Any backtracking on those precedents would be unthinkable.

At the same time, the potential for decisions that cause lasting harm to LGBTQ people and their families is real as new issues and cases come before the Court. We urge the Senate to explore these issues carefully and to ensure that any person who sits on our nation’s highest court understands the realities facing LGBTQ communities and others for whom our Constitution’s promise of freedom and equality is not yet fully realized. To date, there is nothing in Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s record to indicate that he understands the real-world impact of discrimination on LGBTQ people or the importance of construing our nation’s laws to enable them to participate fully and equally in society. The Supreme Court must be a court for all, not just for the privileged few.

It is sobering that a president who has shown disregard for many of our nation’s most cherished rights and freedoms has an opportunity to appoint a second justice to the Supreme Court. This moment is a wake-up call to LGBTQ people and others about the critical importance of elections and the need to vote this November.”

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The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. www.NCLRights.org