A gay former employee of Judge Neil
Gorsuch, President Donald Trump's conservative nominee for the
Supreme Court, says that Gorsuch is not anti-gay.
Josh Goodbaum, who clerked for Gorsuch
in 2009, told The
Huffington Post that Gorsuch congratulated him on his 2014
marriage.
“[Gorsuch] said, 'This is a wonderful
thing,”' Goodbaum said. “You'll see how your relationship
grows.”
“I have never felt the least whiff
from him of homophobia or intolerance toward gay people,” he added.
LGBT groups have come out against
Gorsuch's nomination.
“Judge Gorsuch gained national
attention for his opinions in two federal cases supporting an
employer’s right to refuse to pay for contraception as part of
employee health coverage if doing so violates the employer’s
religious beliefs. That bodes ill for LGBT people who are facing an
onslaught of laws sanctioning discrimination in the name of religious
liberty,” said Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur
said. “Judge Gorsuch’s opinions in prior cases such as Hobby
Lobby leave us deeply concerned about his willingness to uphold
laws protecting LGBT people from bias, not to mention protecting the
separation of church and state.”
According to “judicial
common space” scores, Gorsuch sits ideologically to the right
of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, an outspoken opponent of LGBT
rights.