Trump under fire over ‘dangerous and hateful’ anti-LGBT Supreme Court plan
Donald Trump is under fire after pledging to appoint more ultra-conservative justices to the Supreme Court.
Mr Trump previously told evangelicals he would “consider” a push to overturn same-sex marriage via the appointment of new Supreme Court justices.
During the recent Presidential debate, Trump confirmed that he would appoint justices in the mould of the late Antonin Scalia, who opposed the decriminalisation of sodomy and penned a blistering dissent against the equal marriage ruling.
He said: “Justice Scalia, great judge, died recently. And we have a vacancy. I am looking to appoint judges very much in the mould of Justice Scalia.
“I’m looking for judges — and I’ve actually picked 20 of them so that people would see, highly respected, highly thought of, and actually very beautifully reviewed by just about everybody. But people that will respect the Constitution of the United States.
“I think that this is so important.”
RightWingWatch recently reported that nearly every Supreme Court candidate mooted by Trump is an extreme anti-LGBT conservative.
The pro-LGBT Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has launched a push on the issue, flagging concern with Trump’s pledge to emulate Scalia, “whose tenure on the high court was defined by denying LGBTQ Americans their equal rights”
HRC President Chad Griffin said: “Donald Trump’s dangerous and hateful vision for our Supreme Court is to appoint justices in the model of Antonin Scalia — a man who spent his entire judicial career disparaging LGBTQ Americans, calling us murderers and polygamists.
“The future of the Supreme Court is at stake in this election, and we cannot allow Donald Trump to nominate a new generation of anti-LGBTQ judges who would perpetuate Justice Scalia’s legacy of discrimination.
“Hillary Clinton has long been a champion for the LGBTQ community and is the only candidate in this race who would ensure that the Supreme Court continues its historic progress securing equality for all Americans.”
