Jeff Sessions. Jeff f-ing Sessions. That is who Donald Trump has tapped to be our nation’s next Attorney General.
A lot has been written about this 69-year-old reported Klan-sympathizer and junior Senator from Alabama who is set to replace our nation’s first African American woman ever to serve as AG.
And, as is often the case with racists, he’s also a total homophobe. Sessions scores an impressive zeropercent by the HRC. He has consistently voted against advancements in LGBTQ rights for nearly 20 years, and has made a number of off-color comments about gay people, as well.
Let’s take a quick look a this voting record when it comes to the most important LGBTQ issues:
- In 2000, Sessions voted against an amendment that would expand the definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation. He voted against it a second time in 2002.
- In 2004 and again in 2006, Sessions voted in favor of advancing the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would defined marriage across the entire United States as a union of one man and one woman.
- In 2010, Sessions voted against repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
- In 2011, Sessions spoke out against President Obama and in defense of DOMA.
But it’s not just Sessions’ voting record that is, frankly, deplorable. He’s also made a number of homophobic comments over the years, for instance:
- When asked about the appointment of an openly gay Supreme Court justice in 2010, Sessions relied: “I do not think that a person who acknowledges that they have gay tendencies is disqualified, per se, for the job [but] that would be a big concern that the American people might feel uneasy about that.”
- Also in 2010, Sessions said allowing gay soldiers to serve openly in the military would “add additional burden” on straight soldiers who are already under a lot of stress fighting in war zones.
- In 2011, when speaking in favor of DOMA, Sessions called same-sex marriage “very troubling” and “unacceptable.”
- In 2015, Sessions called the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality “problematic,” adding that “anybody that denies that doesn’t understand law.”
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This article originally appeared on Queerty
Photo credit: Getty Images
I have one of my kids gay and we agree many things and one is that she and her partner see a union – to gain same rights as a man and woman marrying – as their goal. The word marriage is no big deal to them – the rights are. This is a big thing to me who does see the word marriage as truly designed for man and woman. So it is a matter of conservatives learning to work with and balance issues with different types of people. Many of her friends get a legal union and have… Read more »
As the old saying goes, the ones who rant and rail the loudest against something are usually that very thing in reality, of course behind closed doors in this case, the closet doors. It’s ok Jeff. You can come out of the closet, smoke a doobie and relax…