Statement on Betsy DeVos's Confirmation Hearings

(Tuesday, January 17, 2017) As Congress begins hearings on Betsy DeVos's nomination to be the U.S. Secretary of Education, Rachel B. Tiven, CEO of Lambda Legal, the nation’s leading nonprofit legal organization working for LGBT rights, provided the following statement:

"Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students contact Lambda Legal every day to seek help being safe at school. We need a Secretary of Education who will make schools safe for all students, and who won’t tolerate bullying – by peers, parents or school administrators.

"What we know so far about Betsy DeVos’s record concerns us. She has supported Focus on the Family, which opposes marriage equality, and her family foundation has funded a group that advances the dangerous practice of so-called “conversion therapy.” Her advocacy for privatizing public education could eject students – LGBT or not – from the protection of federal laws. 

A complete confirmation process for Betsy DeVos is necessary in order to fully investigate whether she supports equal rights for LGBT students.”