The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) on
Saturday applauded the suspension of Alabama Supreme Court Chief
Justice Roy Moore over his attempt to block the start of marriage
equality in Alabama.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)
filed complains against Moore with the Alabama Judicial Inquiry
Commission, which took action Friday, suspending Moore with pay from
his position until a court decides whether he should be removed from
office.
“Roy Moore is an embarrassment to the
state of Alabama,” said HRC Alabama State Manager Eva Walton
Kendrick. “He has repeatedly used his authority to discriminate
against LGBT people and their families, and to defy federal marriage
equality rulings. Moore's suspension is welcome news, and we expect
the Ethics Commission will permanently throw him out of office after
reviewing his pattern of intentionally flouting the laws he vowed to
uphold.”
Moore ordered probate judges, who issue
marriage licenses in the state, to ignore the federal ruling last
year that struck down Alabama's marriage ban. After the Supreme
Court found that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right
to marry, Moore argued that the ruling did not apply to Alabama.
Moore has also spoken out publicly
against marriage equality, claiming that such unions go
against God, will lead
to incest, polygamy and child
abuse, and will “destroy”
the United States.
In a statement, Moore said he will
fight the charges.
Moore was ousted from the bench in 2003
for refusing to remove from public property a monument of the Ten
Commandments which he had commissioned.