{"id":506083,"date":"2019-06-19T17:39:39","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T17:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glaad.logalt.net\/tap\/mitch-mcconnell\/"},"modified":"2023-04-21T22:29:44","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T22:29:44","slug":"mitch-mcconnell","status":"publish","type":"gap","link":"https:\/\/glaad.org\/gap\/mitch-mcconnell\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitch McConnell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As Senator and Senate Majority Leader<\/em><\/u><\/p>\n

\u2014 Blocked<\/a> a vote on an amendment that would have stopped the Trump Administration\u2019s ban on transgender military personnel.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Co-sponsored<\/a> both the 2004 and the 2006 versions of the so-called Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have turned the US Constitution into a weapon against marriage equality<\/p>\n

\u2014 Callously said<\/a> of changing the U.S. Constitution to ban marriage equality: \u201cIf it takes a constitutional amendment to achieve a statement of the obvious, then so be it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Insisted<\/a> that a Federal Marriage Amendment was needed because \u201cI believe that traditional marriage, the union between a man and a woman, is the cornerstone of our society and the best possible foundation for a family. I believe that traditional marriage, the union between a man and a woman, should be the only form of marriage recognized by law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Responded<\/a> to the Supreme Court\u2019s legalization of marriage equality with insistence that \u201c…the American people, through the democratic process, should be able to determine the meaning of this bedrock institution in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Voted for<\/a> the discriminatory so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joined an Amicus Brief<\/a> defending the discriminatory so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal court.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Voted against<\/a> repealing the military\u2019s discriminatory Don\u2019t Ask Don\u2019t Tell (DADT) policy.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tried<\/a> to stop the Senate\u2019s successful repeal of Don\u2019t Ask Don\u2019t Tell (DADT) by pushing a last-minute poison pill amendment that would have demanded a complicated certification process by military chiefs.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Voted against<\/a> federal employment protections for LGBTQ people in both 1996<\/a> and 2013<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Voted against federal hate crimes protections for LGBTQ people in the years 2000<\/a>, 2002<\/a>, and 2009<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Voted for<\/a> a 1994 amendment that was designed to protect employees of the Department of Agriculture who questioned the department\u2019s pro-LGBTQ policies (Sponsor Jesse Helms <\/em>said on the Senate floor<\/em><\/a> that the amendment was needed because \u201cTo be blunt about it, the Department of Agriculture is being overrun by homosexuals, and they have been running the store to a great extent.\u201d<\/em>)<\/p>\n

\u2014 Voted for a 1992 amendment that prevented federal funds from being used for HHS Surverys that gauged teen sexual behavior (Sponsor Jesse Helms <\/em>admitted on the Senate floor <\/em><\/a>that the amendment was designed to stop \u201cthe sexual liberation crowd\u201d from cooking \u201cthe scientific facts to legitimize homosexual and other sexually promiscuous lifestyles.\u201d<\/em>)<\/p>\n

\u2014 Appointed<\/a> viciously anti-LGBTQ activist Tony Perkins to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Has changed Senate rules<\/a> in order to confirm a record number of anti-LGBTQ conservative judges at all levels of the judiciary.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bragged<\/a> to an audience of the anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council, \u201cWe are changing America more than some people recognize, but I\u2019m glad you do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":355,"featured_media":506084,"template":"","categories":[138754],"tags":[],"region":[],"hashtag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-506083","1":"gap","2":"type-gap","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"category-gaps"},"aioseo_notices":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t