LGBT groups: Gorsuch more extreme than Scalia

A coalition of 19 LGBT organizations says it has concerns about how Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, will treat their community.

“After a comprehensive review of Judge Gorsuch’s record, we have concluded that his views on civil rights issues are fundamentally at odds with the notion that LGBT people are entitled to equality, liberty, justice, and dignity under the law,” it said in a letter first reported by BuzzFeed Thursday. “Judge Gorsuch poses a significant threat to the LGBT community.”

“In fact, his views are even more extreme and outside the mainstream than Justice [Antonin] Scalia’s, whom Judge Gorsuch is proposed to replace. His views should be as frightening to others as they are to the LGBT community.”

{mosads}Thursday’s letter was addressed to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

The signers include LGBT organizations like Lambda Legal, the Human Rights Campaign and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

The groups involved oppose Gorsuch’s nomination and urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to “interrogate” him extensively once his confirmation hearings start this Monday.

“Only by insisting that Judge Gorsuch answer these questions will the Committee fulfill its responsibility to the American people, and reveal the extent to which his nomination jeopardizes rights and liberties that many Americans believe are secure,” the coalition said.

Gorsuch, who sits on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, is seen as a solidly conservative pick.

Several LGBT rights cases are working their way through federal judiciary to potential Supreme Court arguments, including one involving protections for transgender students.

Senate Democrats have the option to filibuster Gorsuch, meaning that he could need 60 votes to win confirmation.