As an avid proponent of religious exemptions with a history targeting vulnerable communities, Gov. Sam Brownback is STILL unfit for State Department post 

NEW YORK – Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD – the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, released the following statement in response to the White House’s plan to renominate Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to become ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom after he failed to be confirmed by the Senate last year.

“The idea that the same administration pushing the Muslim Ban is seeking to equitably promote religious freedom abroad is absurd. The renomination of Sam Brownback, is yet another example of President Trump using the Oval Office to target vulnerable communities,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “Throughout his career, Sam Brownback has felt entitled to impose his anti-LGBTQ ideology on others, citing his faith while rescinding discrimination protections and voting against hate crime legislation. This deeply troubling record must be taken into full account as Brownback is, once again, sent through the nomination process.”

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Gov. Sam Brownback’s Anti-LGBTQ Record

• Original cosponsor of a proposed federal marriage amendment, Brownback called marriage equality “radical social experimentation” and “a grave threat to our central social institution.”
• Claimed marriage equality is “harmful to the future of the Republic.”
• Rescinded an executive order stating Kansas state workers could not face discrimination, harassment, or job termination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Voted against LGBTQ hate crimes legislation, stating: “This is something we have got to fight against, that somehow that the thought is what the crime is, and that being moved into an agenda not allowing people to speak their beliefs about homosexuality.”
• Temporarily blocked the confirmation of a federal judge solely because she attended the commitment ceremony of a same-sex couple.
• Rejected President Obama’s federal guidance on transgender students using facilities that match their gender identity.
• Signed a so-called “religious freedom” law allowing college campus groups to exclude members based on religious beliefs without losing public funds.
• Said about marriage equality: “When you do these vast, social experiments–and that’s what this is, when you redefine marriage–they’re not done in isolation. They impact the rest of the culture around you. When you take the sacredness out of marriage, you will drive the marriage rates down.”
• Claimed the military’s discriminatory Don’t Ask Don’t Tell ban was “good policy” and “the right thing for us to do in the military.