Jim Bridenstine has a record of calling for the repeal of marriage equality and attacking transgender non-discrimination protections

NEW YORK – GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, released the following statement denouncing the confirmation of Oklahoma Rep. Jim Bridenstine to head NASA. Bridenstine has an extensive anti-LGBTQ record including arguing that Obama’s transgender inclusive non-discrimination guidance was “lawless federal bullying,” and calling for the repeal of marriage equality, saying it runs “contrary to millennia of human experience.”

“President Trump’s nod to Jim Bridenstine as NASA’s next leader is yet another attack by this administration on LGBTQ people,” said Zeke Stokes, Vice President of Programs at GLAAD. “It’s time for the Senate to take a hard look at the nominations they are confirming and the potential ramifications these anti-LGBTQ politicians stand to have on the LGBTQ employees in their agencies and within our country as a whole. Midterm elections are around the corner, and our community has a very good memory.”

Read more about Jim Bridenstine’s anti-LGBTQ record below via GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Jim Bridenstine’s Anti-LGBTQ Record

• Opposed marriage equality and sponsored several pieces of legislation seeking to ban and/or limit equal access for same-sex couples.
   
• Said on marriage equality that his “state of Oklahoma needs to stand up and say, ‘look, we’re not going to accept these marriages.’” [Quote starts at 51:38]
   
• Called President Obama’s guidance to allow transgender students to use the right bathroom an aggressive attempt “to fundamentally transform America,” insisting that “Parents and schools should assert their rights to govern themselves and not submit to Obama’s lawless federal bullying.”
   
• Called the U.S. Supreme Court’s repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) “a disappointment not only because it is contrary to millennia of human experience, but also because it is clearly contrary to the choice of the people as expressed in a constitutionally valid process.”
   
• Co-sponsored legislation that sought to impeach former Attorney General Eric Holder in part because of his “Failure to enforce…the Defense of Marriage Act.”
   
• Lashed out at “intolerant left bullies” for making the Boy Scouts LGBTQ inclusive, claiming that the goal was “to silence opposition and reshape organizations like the Boy Scouts into instruments for social change.”
   
• Served as a guest host on Family Research Council President Tony Perkins’ radio show on more than one occasion.

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