Lambda Legal: Van Dyke's Confirmation An Affront to LGBT Community

(Washington, DC, December 11, 2019) - Today, Sasha Buchert, Senior Attorney at Lambda Legal, issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate confirmed Lawrence VanDyke for a lifetime position to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit:

"Lawrence VanDyke's confirmation represents the latest affront to the LGBT community by an administration that appears to revel in its disdain for LGBT people and our families. As outlined in our letter of opposition, Mr. VanDyke's long history of working to diminish the civil rights of the LGBT community renders it wholly implausible that he is capable of administering fair and impartial justice. In fact, it is precisely this concern that led the American Bar Association (ABA) to rate him as 'Not Qualified' for this lifetime position of public trust. For our legal system to have credibility, people must have confidence that judges will follow the facts and the law, and yet Mr. VanDyke has refused to disavow his prior statements promoting harmful and unfounded myths about LGBT people, including the long-since discredited notion that marriage equality will somehow "hurt families, and consequently children and society." And yet, once again, Senate Republicans have chosen to vote in lockstep, and advance another dangerous ideologue to a position that he will occupy for decades to come. It is impossible to overstate the damage that is being done to the credibility of our system of justice by the confirmation of judges like Lawrence VanDyke. Particularly on days like today, we call on all people who believe in equal justice under law to make their voices heard and demand better from their elected representatives in Washington."