From Lambda Legal:
New York, NY — Following the U.S. Senate's confirmation of Jeff Sessions as U.S. Attorney General, Rachel B. Tiven, CEO of Lambda Legal, the nation's oldest and largest non-profit legal organization working for LGBT rights, released the following statement:
"Jeff Sessions' confirmation as Attorney General today is a travesty. The chief lawyer of the United States is now someone who has devoted his whole life to obstructing civil rights. He is a life-long opponent of the civil rights of LGBT people, people of color, women and immigrants. Sadly, we have no confidence in his commitment to enforcing the law and protecting the civil rights of everyone in this country.
"The Republican-led Senate may have disregarded Sessions' troubling track record, but we know it all too well. Jeff Sessions is a dire threat to our civil rights. He is an opponent of marriage equality and a dogged foe of immigrants and refugees — even LGBT people fleeing persecution. I have personally seen him be rude and dismissive toward LGBT families."
"Lambda Legal has a long history of suing the government—and winning. We'll be watching his steps at the Justice Department very closely and will fight any attempt to roll back our rights."
From the Human Rights Campaign:
WASHINGTON —Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) condemned the confirmation of Sen. Jeff Sessions as United States Attorney General. Donald Trump's choice of Jeff Sessions to lead the United States Department of Justice places civil rights and equality in jeopardy.
"It's deeply disturbing that Jeff Sessions, who has demonstrated a clear animus against so many Americans — including the LGBTQ community, women and people of color — could be charged with running the very system of justice designed to protect them," said Chad Griffin, President of the Human Rights Campaign. "The man now in charge of enforcing hate crimes protections doesn't even think they should exist — or that LGBTQ people need them. The man now in charge of enforcing civil rights laws is a man who has a history of undermining the rights of African-American voters. Our message to Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions is this: we're going to fight any attempt to roll back our rights with every resource that we have. We will not give one inch."
For more, check out HRC's report: Jeff Sessions: A History of Anti-LGBTQ Actions, which includes details about his extensitve history of anti-LGBTQ lawmaking, including:
Jeff Sessions has repeatedly supported laws that criminalize LGBTQ activity, using discriminatory laws to harrass LGBTQ Alabamans and blasting the Lawrence v. Texas decision, which finally ended the criminalization of same-sex relationships.
Jeff Sessions supported the discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and believed it was "pretty effective."
On marriage, Sessions co-sponsored and voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment, saying he would seek "again and again" to pass an amendment to the United States Constitution outlawing marriage equality in every state. Of the 2015 Obergefell ruling, Sessions said it "goes beyond what I consider to be the realm of reality."
Jeff Sessions has repeatedly opposed hate crimes protections for LGBTQ Americans — even attempting to insert a poison pill amendment to try to sink the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Jeff Sessions has actively attempted to block some of the most effective methods of preventing HIV and other STIs—specifically safer sex education.
Jeff Sessions once tried to terminate the National Endowment for the Arts based on its financial support for a lesbian filmmaker.
