Campaign for Southern Equality: Following Confirmation of Justice Barrett, We Must Channel Our Energy, Sadness, and Anger Into Action

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina, Oct. 28 -- The Campaign for Southern Equality issued the following statement on Oct. 27 by Executive Director Jasmine Beach-Ferrara:

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We know many of you are upset about the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Our team at the Campaign for Southern Equality is upset, too; last week we signed onto a letter with dozens of LGBTQ organizations opposing her confirmation. We did this not only because we believe Justice Ginsburg's seat should have been filled after the election - but also because what little we know about Judge Barrett's record and worldview indicates that she would not be a fair arbiter in cases that are central to the lived and legal equality of LGBTQ Southerners.

Now, Judge Barrett has been confirmed, and we've received questions about the future of marriage equality under the 2015 Obergefell ruling. Obergefell was not just a victory for the Constitution that guaranteed equal justice for all - it also marked a moment where the Supreme Court caught up to where the American people already were in their support for the freedom to marry. Even now, public support for marriage equality is higher than ever. LGBTQ people have come out, shared their lives with their communities, and many have been met with love. People have changed their minds, journeying to support the freedom to marry, and we feel confident both that the legal question is settled and that the decision is sewn into the fabric of our society.

And remember: A 6-3 majority of the Court only months ago issued the Bostock decision, protecting LGBTQ workers from discrimination and paving the way for protections in housing, education, healthcare, and more.

More troubling for LGBTQ equality, however, are legal challenges seeking religious exemptions from nondiscrimination laws, or challenges to the dignity and humanity of transgender people. One case about religious exemptions, Fulton v. Philadelphia, will be heard by the justice next week, and that type of lawsuit poses a threat to the lived equality of LGBTQ people. We must continue to be vigilant in these types of cases, and cases about the many other issues that LGBTQ Southerners care about, including immigration, voting rights, and healthcare.

The new makeup of the Supreme Court will surely require lawmakers to step up. We must elect leaders at the federal, state, and local levels to protect marginalized communities, address inequities, and create systems that work for everyone.

Judge Barrett's confirmation will also require us to stop viewing the U.S. Supreme Court as the only stop-gap for correcting injustice. It will require us to work harder than ever to compel our elected officials to do the right thing - and to remind them in every single election and every single day that we elected them to represent us and to legislate.

By that measure, I encourage you to resist falling into despair and instead, to channel your energy, sadness, and even anger into action. VOTE. And contact your friends and family members to remind them to vote or help them get the information they need to make their voice heard.

The Campaign for Southern Equality is here for you. We'll never stop working for LGBTQ Southerners - and we'll never stop leading with hope, empathy, and a deep optimism in what we can do when we come together to build communities where we can all thrive.

If you're able to donate to CSE today and fuel the work that we surely have ahead of us, please click here to give: https://southernequality.org/donate

Thank you,

Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara

Campaign for Southern Equality

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October 23, 2020

Dear Senator,

On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we write to you today to express the importance of the U.S. Supreme Court to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people and people living with HIV, and urge you to vote against confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett as a justice of the Court. Judge Barrett's approach to issues like privacy, equal protection, and religious liberty will shape the Court in ways that may cause lasting harm to LGBTQ people and other vulnerable groups.

Judge Barrett will replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg if confirmed. During Justice Ginsburg's tenure on the Supreme Court, she consistently authored or joined opinions in cases that safeguarded the liberty and equality of LGBTQ people, including Lawrence v. Texas , which struck down laws criminalizing same-sex sexual relationships; Christian Legal Society v.

Martinez , which held that public universities may enforce neutral, generally applicable policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation; United States v. Windsor , which guaranteed equal treatment of the marriages of same-sex couples by the federal government; Obergefell v. Hodges , which ensured the right of same-sex couples to marry nationwide; and most recently, Bostock v. Clayton County , which found that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. While these opinions have transformed the place of LGBTQ people in this country, we have not yet achieved full legal equality. Many unresolved issues affecting LGBTQ people are still being litigated in the federal courts and, unfortunately, we still face a concerted effort not only to roll back existing protections, but to enact laws and policies that actively target LGBTQ people and seek to make it impossible for them to participate safely or openly in the shared life of this country.

The Supreme Court has long recognized and protected the right to religious belief and free exercise as core American values. However, it has also been very clear that these values must not be exercised, "in utter disregard of the clear constitutional rights of other citizens." 1 It is essential that the nominee respect this standard. The Court will take up this issue next month in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. The issue presented by the case--whether a federally funded religiously affiliated child welfare agency must comply with generally applicable nondiscrimination laws when performing a governmental function--could undermine the enforcement of nondiscrimination protections in wide spectrum of areas, including veteran's services, public accommodations, public benefits, family law, asylum, and housing. Even whether same-sex spouses must be treated equally is at stake, including pending cases regarding the equal application of citizenship rules to children born abroad to same-sex couples. Were the Court to permit these inequalities to stand, Justice Ginsburg's fear of a kind of "skim milk" equality may well be realized.

Similarly, despite Bostock' s clear holding that a prohibition on sex discrimination necessarily protects LGBTQ people, the current administration is disregarding and actively seeking to undermine that landmark ruling. Less than a week after the Court's decision in Bostock , the Department of Health and Human Services published a final rule purporting to eliminate health 1 Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc ., 256 F. Supp. 941, 945 (D.S.C. 1966).

care protections for LGBTQ people under the Affordable Care Act, which is already the subject of federal litigation. And of course, the ACA itself has been challenged, in a case that is already before the Court and will be heard one week after the election.

There are many other federal policies targeting LGBTQ people that are likely to be challenged in the federal courts in cases that may ultimately reach the high Court. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed a rule that would empower federally funded emergency shelters to exclude transgender people. The Department of Education has stated that federal law does not prohibit discrimination against transgender students and has even taken the extraordinary step of seeking to withdraw federal funding from schools that protect those students in their athletic programs. And there already are multiple federal lawsuits challenging President Trump's decision to ban transgender people from military service.

In addition to these examples, LGBTQ people have an enormous stake in the same core issues that affect so many other Americans-- from voting rights and immigration to policing and reproductive justice. These issues affect LGBTQ communities, which include people of color, immigrants and refugees, elders, youth, parents, incarcerated persons, people with disabilities, and many people living in poverty. Justice Ginsburg championed a broad and robust application of our nation's civil rights statutes and our Constitution's guarantee of equal protection of the laws. She was a champion of racial justice, reproductive rights, voting rights, and immigrant justice. These issues will continue to come before the court, as will questions of executive power and privilege, corporate personhood and political activity, and access to the ballot and public life.

With all that is at stake for LGBTQ people, we urge you to take seriously your responsibility to ensure that the Supreme Court remains a forum that is genuinely open to all, committed to the principles of equality and justice for all, and a bulwark against tyranny, the scapegoating of vulnerable groups, and the abuse of public power. As Judge Barrett has acknowledged, she embraces a conservative judicial philosophy that aligns her with former Justice Scalia, one of the most conservative justices ever to sit on our nation's high court, and one who consistently voted against LGBTQ people in every LGBTQ rights case decided by the Court during his tenure. Her presence on the Court would change the current balance of the Court dramatically, in ways that are highly likely to cause lasting harm to LGBTQ people and other vulnerable groups. We urge you to oppose Judge Barrett and vote no on her confirmation.

Thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Sarah Warbelow at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Adair Co GLBT Resource Center

African American Office of Gay Concerns African Human Rights Coalition (AHRC) APLA Health

Aqua Foundation for Women

AsylumConnect

Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network

B. Riley Sober House

Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice Bet Mishpachah

Bi Women Quarterly

Big Apple Performing Arts, Inc/New York City Gay Men's Chorus BiLaw

Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center BiPOL San Francisco

Black Trans Women Inc

Blue Ridge Pride Center

Boston Gay Men's Chorus

Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center Brooklyn Community Pride Center

Cailfornia Democratic Party LGBT Caucus Campaign for Southern Equality

Campus Pride

Cascade AIDS Project

Center for Psychological Growth

Center on Halsted

CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers Colors+

Compass LGBTQ Community Center

Deaf Queer Resource Center

Disciples LGBTQ+ Alliance - AllianceQ Dolphin Democrats

Drag Story Hour Arizona

End Hep C SF

Equality California

Equality Maine

Equality Michigan

Equality New York

Equality North Carolina

Equality Ohio

Equality Prince William

Equality Texas

Equality Utah

Equitas Health Institute

Family Equality

First United Methodist Church

Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus

Florida NOW (National Organization for Women) Florida Trans Proud Inc

Fluid Array Foundation

Foothills United Methodist Church

FORGE, Inc.

Four Corners Rainbow Youth Center

Fund for Community Reparations for Autistic People of Color's Interdependence, Survival, & Empowerment

GAPIMNY--Empowering Queer & Trans Asian Pacific Islanders Garden State Equality

Gay City: Seattle's LGBTQ Center

Gay Freedom Band of Los Angeles (GFBLA) Georgia Equality

Get Out And Trek (GOAT)

Get The Vote Out

GLAAD

GLBT Historical Society

GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders

GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality GLSEN

Harvey Milk Festival

Harvey Milk Foundation

Hearts on a Wire

HER

Hetrick-Martin Institute: New Jersey

Hope and Help Center of Central Florida Inc Houston GLBT Political Caucus

Hudson Pride Center

Human Rights Campaign

Identity, Inc.

Institute for LGBT Health and Wellbeing, Inc.

JustUs Health

Keshet

LABTF

Lambda Legal

Latino LinQ

Lesbians of Color Symposium Collective, Inc.

Lesbians Who Tech & Allies

Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art

LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland LGBTQ Allyship

LGBTQ Center of Bay County

LGBTQ Center Orange County

LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert

LGBTQ Northwest Indiana Inc.

LGBTQ+ Allies Lake County

LGBTQ+ Collaborative

LGBTQ+ Lorain County

Liberty City Democrats

Long Beach LGBT Chamber of Commerce

Los Angeles Bi Task Force

Los Angeles LGBT Center

Marsha's Plate Podcast

MassEquality

Mazzoni Center

Media for the Public Good, Inc. / OutCasting Media Meroe & Wellness, LLC

Methodist Federation for Social Action Nashville Pride

National Black Justice Coalition

National Coalition for LGBT Health

National Equality Action Team (NEAT)

National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) National Queer Theater

New York City AIDS Memorial

North Shore Alliance of LGBTQ Youth

Oasis Legal Services

Oklahomans for Equality

One Colorado

One n ten

Openhouse

oSTEM

Our Family Coalition

Out & Equal

Out Boulder County

OUT Georgia Business Alliance

Out in the Open

OutCenter of Southwest Michigan

OutNebraska

OUTspoken Leaders Illinois

Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Partnership Project

Peer Support Space, Inc.

Philadelphia Family Pride

Phoenix Pride

Point Foundation

Pride at Work

Pride Center of the Capital Region

Pride Community Services Organization Project MORE

Proud Haven Inc

QLatinx

Queen City Performing Arts/Cincinnati Men's Chorus Queer Connect, Inc.

Queer Kid Stuff

Rainbow Elder Care of Greater Dayton

Reading Pride Celebration

Rebellious PR & Consulting

Reconciling Ministries Network

Reconciling Ministries Network - Reconciling United Methodist Reconciling Ministries of UUMC

Sacramento LGBT Community Center

Safeguarding American Values for Everyone (SAVE) SAGE -- Advocacy and Services for LGBT Elders SAGE Metro Detroit

San Diego Pride

Seattle Aces & Aros

SF LGBT Center

Side by Side VA, Inc.

Silver State Equality-Nevada

Southern Arizona Gender Alliance

StartOut

StephenMeadArt, The Chroma Museum

Still Bisexual

Stonewall National Museum & Archvies

Talent Plan

TBuddy

TeachingCulturalCompassion.com

Tennessee Equality Project

The Affirmative Couch, LLC

The Box Gallery

The Great Griffon

The LGBTQ+ Community Center of Southern Nevada The Montrose Center

The OUT Foundation

The Source LGBT+ Center

The Spahr Center

Trans In Color

TransFamily Support Services

Transgender Assistance Program Virginia Transgender Law Center

Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund Transgender Training Institute

TurnOut

Virtual Arizona Pride

Visual Artists

Watermark

Waves Ahead Corp Puerto Rico

Whitman-Walker Institute

William Way LGBT Community Center

Woodhull Freedom Foundation

Young Democrats of Georgia LGBTQ+ Caucus Youth Pride, Inc.

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