WASHINGTON, April 17, 2018 — Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, sent a letter to members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Monday urging them to oppose the nomination of Director Mike Pompeo to serve as U.S. Secretary of State. Throughout his career, Pompeo has been a staunch opponent of LGBTQ equality and refused to disavow those positions during his Senate confirmation hearing last week when prompted by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and others.
“Since his nomination, we have been deeply concerned about Director Pompeo’s troubling anti-LGBTQ record, including his co-sponsorship of multiple bills during his service in the U.S. House of Representatives that would have slowed the spread of marriage equality and provided a ‘license to discriminate’ against the LGBTQ community,” said Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur and National Policy Director Valerie Ploumpis in the letter to the Committee.
After a decade of significant global progress for the LGBTQ community, with the Obama Administration playing a key role as vocal proponents of LGBTQ human rights around the world — even in nations infamous for their regressive anti-LGBTQ policies — the Trump Administration has sought to scale back the United States’ moral leadership in the advancement of human rights. Still, Director Pompeo’s confirmation as Secretary of State would represent a drastic lurch further toward the views of anti-LGBTQ groups like the Family Research Council.
“Director Pompeo’s public statements and positions on issues important to the LGBTQ community here and around the world make it clear that he would be unfit to serve in this capacity,” concluded Zbur and Ploumpis.
During his service in the U.S. House of Representatives, Pompeo opposed the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and said it was “not ideal” for children to have same-sex parents. He also voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and, in three full terms in the House, received two zeros and one 30 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard.
Click here to read Equality California’s letter to to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Equality California also sent letters to Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California expressing opposition to Director Pompeo’s nomination. On April 11, Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus Co-Chair Congressman David Cicilline (RI-01) and 46 colleagues urged the Committee to oppose Pompeo’s nomination, too.
Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org