Andrew Schneider: LGBTQ in WV, be concerned about Gorsuch (WV Gazette-Mail)
Andrew Schneider: LGBTQ in WV, be concerned about Gorsuch (Gazette)
By Andrew Schneider March 22, 2017
As the executive director of Fairness West Virginia, the statewide LGBTQ civil rights advocacy organization, I work every day to make concepts like equal opportunity and dignity under the law real for the 46,000 LGBTQ people living in this state.
As I think about the critical issues facing the LGBTQ community and all West Virginians from workplace discrimination and safe schools to good jobs and the mental health of our young people Im looking for judges and justices who share my commitment to our core constitutional values to guide our democracy through trying times. I have deep concerns that President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, who the Senate is holding hearings on this week, views the Constitution in a manner that may cause the court to roll back civil rights for LGBTQ Americans.
When it comes to fairness and equality, Gorsuchs record is troubling. As a lawyer, scholar and judge, he has positioned himself as an obstacle to justice and fairness for those seeking relief in court including LGBTQ people seeking nothing more than the chance to live their lives in peace. Its because of this reason that I urge Senators Manchin and Capito to vote against Judge Gorsuchs nomination to the court.