![\"Jeff](\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/marriage_sessions.jpeg?resize=600%2C309\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSeveral times during his confirmation hearings today, anti-LGBT discrimination and LGBT rights were up for discussion.<\/p>\n
In Sessions\u2019 opening statement, he said \u201cI understand the demands for justice and fairness made by our\u00a0LGBT community\u201d though his past actions reveal that he has fought against justice and fairness for the LGBT community at every turn.<\/p>\n
Understanding something is not the same as siding with it.<\/p>\n
\nSessions: I will ensure civil rights protections for African-Americans, women<\/a> and LGBT people if attorney general t.co\/eNEbpB1Ly7<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 NBC News (@NBCNews) January 10, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Sessions may understand the LGBT community\u2019s concerns, but he opposes them.<\/p>\n
The Alabama senator\u00a0has been a vocal opponent of marriage equality<\/a>. He also grilled then Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan<\/a>\u00a0on her opposition to \u2018Don\u2019t Ask, Don\u2019t Tell during her senate confirmation hearings and said he would do crack cocaine at Sonia Sotomayor\u2019s hearings.<\/a>\u00a0He also opposed the Matthew Shepard hate crimes act and supports the First Amendment Defense Act<\/a>, the heinous bill that would allow businesses to cite religious beliefs as justification to discriminate against LGBT people. In 1996, as Alabama\u2019s attorney general, Sessions fought tooth and nail<\/a>\u00a0to stop the Southeastern Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual College Conference from meeting at the University of Alabama but did not prevail.<\/p>\n
When asked during the confirmation hearings, Sessions said that he would \u201cfollow\u201d the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling on same-sex<\/a> marriage.<\/p>\n
Considering that he has only supported Supreme Court candidates that oppose marriage equality, the statement is meaningless. If a new SCOTUS\u00a0were to rule against marriage equality, his past actions show he\u2019d be even more willing to \u201cfollow\u201d that court\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n
Watch:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Finally, Sessions was asked by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) about\u00a0the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Act, which he strongly opposed.<\/p>\n
In an appalling display for someone about to become the nation\u2019s chief law enforcement officer, Sessions danced around his past statements that LGBT individuals don\u2019t face discrimination or hate crimes, refusing to repudiate those statements.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s our\u00a0transcript:<\/p>\n
LEAHY<\/strong>: In 2009 I offered the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act\u2026you opposed it\u2026you stated at a hearing that you\u2019re not sure women<\/a> or people of different sexual orientations face that kind of discrimination. And then you said \u2018I just don\u2019t see it.\u2019 Do you still believe that women<\/a> and LGBT individuals do not face\u00a0the kind of discrimination that the hate crimes legislation was passed to prevent?\u201d<\/p>\n
SESSIONS<\/strong>: \u201cHaving discussed that issue at some length that does not sound like something I said or intended to say.\u201d<\/p>\n
LEAHY<\/strong>: \u201cYou did say it.\u201d<\/p>\n
SESSIONS<\/strong>: \u201cI understand but I\u2019ve seen things taken out of context and not given an accurate picture. My view is and was a concern that it appeared that these cases were being prosecuted effectively in state courts where they were normally be expected to be prosecuted. I asked Attorney General Holder to list cases that he had that indicated they were not being properly prosecuted\u2026I noted that Mr Byrd was given the death penalty in Texas for his offense, and Mr Shepard, there were two life sentences imposed as a result of\u00a0the situation in his state. So the question simply was do we have a problem that requires an expansion of federal law into an area that the federal government has not been historically involved. Senator Hatch had a proposal that we do a study to see the extent of the problem and that we should have evidence that indicates a shortage of prosecutions and a lack of willingness to prosecute before adding this law.\u201d<\/p>\n
LEAHY<\/strong>: \u201cLast year the FBI said that LGBT individuals were more likely to be targeted for hate crimes than any other minority group in the country. We can study this forever but that\u2019s a pretty strong fact. And in 2010 you stated that expanding hate crimes protections to LGBT individuals was unwarranted, possibly unconstitutional. You said the bill has been said\u00a0to cheapen the civil rights movement. Especially considering what the FBI is found, do you still feel that way?\u201d<\/p>\n
SESSIONS<\/strong>: \u201cMr. Chairman the law has been passed, the Congress has spoken, you can be sure I will enforce it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The post AG Nominee Jeff Sessions\u2019s Testimony Shows He\u2019s Unchanged in Hostility to LGBT Rights, Protections: WATCH<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n