Neil Gorsuch's Troubling Views On LGBTQ Adoption

Well, it's official, folks. President Donald Trump has named his pick for the empty seat on the Supreme Court of the United States, and the nominee is... Steve Bannon! Just kidding. But you know you kind of believed it for a minute there, right? Moving on, Trump's actual choice for the SCOTUS seat left open by the deceased Justice Antonin Scalia is actually Neil Gorsuch. And while Gorsuch's reputation is definitely reminiscent of Scalia's, he still stands out in various ways. However, as many were quick to point out on Twitter following Gorsuch's nomination, he hasn't exactly been known to rule in favor of minorities, including women and the LGBTQ community. And Neil Gorsuch's views on LGBTQ adoption are a little troubling, to say the least.

The fight for the LGBTQ community to have equal and fair access to many things other Americans take for granted has been long, hard, and painful. And although things still aren't perfect, the 2015 Supreme Court case of Obergefell v. Hodges was historic as it made gay marriage legal throughout all of the United States, and gave same-sex couples one more thing to celebrate. But there are still issues worth fighting for, such as discrimination towards LGBTQ people, especially in regards to the right of adoption.

Because, while the Supreme Court may have ruled in favor of gay marriage for any and all, that doesn't mean some states won't try to overturn that ruling in some way or another. In fact, Texas is reportedly making moves to do just that, and if they succeed, they will also succeed in taking away many of the rights of LGBTQ people, affecting rights other than marriage.

Here's why that is: In some states, single people or unmarried couples receive last priority for adopting a child, meaning that states that go through with revoking the SCOTUS gay marriage decision will also be undoing many families as well.

In looking at Gorsuch's record during his tenure as a federal judge, it's quite clear that he isn't exactly in favor of expanding LGBTQ rights — or women's rights for that matter — at all.

Most notable, Gorsuch was one of the judges who sided with Hobby Lobby during the 2014 case in which the franchise declined to provide it's employees with contraceptive, as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Gorsuch claimed that Hobby Lobby was simply expressing their religious freedom, a statement, which, when put in the LGBTQ context, is quite worrisome.

While, for now, he is just a nominee, it's clear that Gorsuch probably won't be the best defender of LGBTQ rights, whether they be marriage, adoption, or health care.