The revelation that Coney Barrett was likewise pictured with a leading member of NOM is likely to only intensify opposition to her confirmation among LGBTQ+ groups, who have referred to the process as a “sham.” In a statement released following the Monday vote, Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David claimed that hearings regarding her nomination “were fast-tracked” and argued that Republicans like Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell had “chosen power over people.”
“This was a power grab, plain and simple, and voters must hold these Senators — and Donald Trump — accountable at the polls,” David said.
LGBTQ+ advocates fear that her confirmation, which was the fastest in history, will affect future cases on equality headed down the pipeline. Just one day after the election, the Supreme Court is set to hear a case that will determine whether religious adoption and foster care agencies have the constitutional right to turn away same-sex couples. Meanwhile, Justices Alito and Clarence Thomas recently welcomed a challenge to the Supreme Court’s 2015 marriage equality ruling, and hate groups have signaled they intend to bring it.
During Senate testimony, Coney Barrett declined to say how she would rule on a case seeking to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, a decision she publicly opposed before later signing onto a letter calling marriage the “indissoluble commitment between a man and a woman.” She also faced backlash after referring to LGBTQ+ identity as “sexual preference,” a phrase commonly used by hate groups to suggest that sexual orientation and gender identity are a choice.
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis claimed in a statement that Coney Barrett’s record is “alarming for LGBTQ people and for all Americans whose fundamental rights should never be up for debate.”
“Barrett’s years at a school that discriminated against LGBTQ families and hurt LGBTQ youth is disturbing and should have disqualified her,” Ellis told them. “Her stated views against marriage equality, rulings against access to abortion, and her public criticism of the Affordable Care Act are out of step with fair-minded Americans and a threat to the progress our country has made to become a stronger and more equitable nation for all.”
“Her record against LGBTQ famiies and rights has no place in American life, let alone the highest court in the land,” she added.
Here, Ellis is referencing the three years that Coney Barrett sat on the board of trustees for Trinity Schools Inc., which refers to homosexuality as “sexual immorality” and denies admission to the children of same-sex couples. Futhermore, the judge’s secretive Catholic worship group, People of Praise, reportedly kicks out members for acting on same-sex desires.
