LGBT Groups Call On Trump Admin To Withdraw Judicial Nominee Gordon Giampietro

LGBT groups are calling on the Trump administration to withdraw its nomination of Gordon Giampietro to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Lambda Legal, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights are among the groups calling on President Donald Trump to withdraw Giampietro's nomination after previously undisclosed comments the nominee made surfaced.

“Gordon Giampietro’s disturbing views against the LGBTQ community, women and other marginalized groups raise serious questions about his ability as a judge to enforce equal treatment for all people under our laws,” said HRC Wisconsin State Manager Wendy Strout. “Someone who publicly and unabashedly voices contempt for equality and diversity has no place on the bench or in public office. HRC will continue to oppose Giampietro and other anti-LGBTQ nominees that the Trump-Pence Administration scrapes from the bottom of the barrel.”

During a 2015 appearance on The Lydia LoCoco Show, Giampietro criticized the Supreme Court's finding that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry. He called the ruling “worse” than Roe v. Wade “because of the damage it does to civil society.” He also described birth control as “an assault on nature.”

He's also described LGBT people as “troubled” and unfit to be parents.

“Children are best raised by a man and a woman. This is natural. This is the truth. And it's irrefutable. And so I think it has to be articulated in a way which isn't dismissive of those troubled relationships,” he said.

Giampietro did not disclose this material in his application to the federal nominating commission, which forwarded his name to Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin's office. Giampietro said that he did not see the material as relevant. Baldwin, who forwarded Giampietro's name to Trump, could use a procedural maneuver to block his confirmation.

Other groups opposed to Giampietro's nomination include the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Alliance for Justice and People For the American Way.