The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed
Mike Pompeo as the next secretary of state.
According to The Washington Post,
Pompeo won confirmation on a 57-42 vote.
President Donald Trump nominated Pompeo
to serve as secretary of state last month after he fired Rex
Tillerson.
LGBT rights groups criticized the
Senate vote.
“Senators who cast their vote to
confirm Mike Pompeo showed complete disregard for the global LGBTQ
community by ignoring his ties to anti-LGBTQ hate and extremism,”
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement.
“Mike Pompeo’s long-standing
opposition to LGBTQ equality and lack of diplomatic experience makes
him a poor choice to lead our nation’s diplomatic efforts,” HRC
President Chad Griffin said in a statement. “The State Department
has a crucial role to play in advancing human rights – a role which
was already significantly eroding under Rex Tillerson. Now that he
has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate, LGBTQ people around the world
will need him to stand up for LGBTQ human rights.”
Previous to serving as director of the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Pompeo served six years in the
U.S. House as a Republican from Kansas. During this time, Pompeo
co-sponsored bills that would allow states not to recognize marriage
equality and allow organizations and businesses to discriminate
against LGBT people. He also opposed repeal of Don't Ask, Don't
Tell, the military policy which prohibited gay troops from serving
openly.
During his Senate confirmation hearing,
Pompeo reiterated his opposition to same-sex marriage and refused to
answer whether he believes being gay is a “perversion.”
(Related: Mike
Pompeo won't say whether he believes being gay is “perversion.”)