Few objections from GOP Senators over Supreme Court’s LGBTQ ruling
On Monday, the Supreme Court banned workplace discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender Americans. The decision was supported by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch and met with little objection from Republican senators.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham said he’s OK with the decision, saying if that’s the court’s ruling, he’ll accept it.
Sen. Rob Portman (R) of Ohio has worked hard to pass a law banning workplace discrimination against LGBTQ people but so far hadn’t seen its passage. He applauded the court’s decision.
“It’s a big deal,” said Portman. “I don’t think people should be discriminated against, specifically, I don’t think someone should lose his or her job because they’re gay. So, I like the result.”
Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer (R) was pleased with the decision and the fact that Gorsuch was on the prevailing side.
“I think it’s important that we recognize that all Americans have equal rights under our Constitution,” she said. “I want to have justices who look at these cases and make decisions based on their review of the case and look at the constitution and apply it equally.”
So far, the only two Republican senators to speak out against the court’s ruling are Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney.
“My big issue with the majority opinion was that substitutes a contemporary understanding of a legal textual term for one that was written in 1964. To me, the principle of textualism, which is rooted in the separation of powers, is that the courts are bound by the meaning of the words at the time they are written, and any updating ought to be done Congress. This amounts to a form of legislation,” Hawley said.
Sen. Romney shared Hawley’s concern that it was Congress’ role to update the law, not the Supreme Court. He told reporters that while he was supportive of protecting LGBTQ people’s rights not to be fired because of their sexual orientation, he wished the decision would have been reached by Congress rather than the court.
Religious leaders also spoke out against the ruling.
“Allowing judges to rewrite the Civil Rights Act to add gender identity & sexual orientation as protected classes poses a grave threat to religious liberty. We’ve already witnessed courts use the redefinition of words as a battering ram to crush faith-based businesses and orgs,” tweeted Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council in D.C.
Several other Republican senators were asked to comment on Monday’s ruling but said they had not yet had a chance to review the decision.
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