Rally to Stop Trump’s Extremely Dangerous Nominees to the Federal Bench

(Washington, DC, March 05, 2018) – Lambda Legal, Alliance for Justice, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Center for Transgender Equality, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and supporting groups will host a rally on Tuesday, March 6th at 11 a.m. by the steps of the Supreme Court to oppose the federal judicial nominations of Kyle Duncan and Thomas Farr, who are awaiting a vote from the full Senate. Congressman Kennedy and McEachin will join civil rights leaders opposing Mr. Duncan and Mr. Farr who have spent their careers attacking LGBT people, people of color and women.

Two Maryland parents of transgender children will also give remarks at the rally about the personal dangers anti-LGBT judges pose to their family. Nicola van Kuilenburg is a mom of a transgender boy and Sarah Watson is mom of two twins, one of whom is a transgender boy.

SPEAKERS:

• U.S. Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III, Member of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus and Chair of the Transgender Equality Task Force
• U.S. Representative Donald McEachin, Member of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus
• Sara Watson, Parent of a transgender boy
• Nicola van Kuilenburg, Parent of a transgender boy
• Nan Aron, President of the Alliance for Justice
• Sharon McGowan, Director of Strategy at Lambda Legal
• Todd Cox, Director of Policy at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
• Harper Jean Tobin, Director of Policy at the National Center for Transgender Equality
• Hilary Shelton, NAACP Washington Bureau Director
• Anna Chu, Vice President for Policy and Strategy at the National Women’s Law Center
• Sarah Warbelow, Legal Director at the Human Right Campaign
• Ilyse Hogue, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America
• Diallo Brooks, Senior Director of Outreach and Partner Engagement at People For the American Way
• Maritza Perez, Legislative Staff Attorney at Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)

WHEN:         

• Tuesday, March 6th at 11 a.m.

WHERE:       

• Supreme Court of the United States

1 First St NE, Washington, DC 20543

LIVESTREAM

• The rally will be livestreamed on Alliance for Justice’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/AllianceforJustice/videos/?ref=page_internal.

BACKGROUND:

Much like the Trump Administration’s past nominee Jeff Mateer, Kyle Duncan and Thomas Farr have been lead attorneys in crusades to target the rights of transgender children, black voters, women, and more. Together, Duncan and Farr defended a discriminatory voting law that, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, “target[ed] African Americans with almost surgical precision.”

As an attorney, Mr. Duncan filed expert declarations on behalf of the legislators that relied upon “junk science” that described transgender people as delusional (arguing in essence, that transgender people don’t exist) and advocating that parents should discourage “transgender persistence.” While at the Becket Fund, Mr. Duncan worked aggressively to eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate by advancing the position that for-profit corporations have religious rights that can override the government’s interest in eliminating historic discrimination against women in health care. He served as lead counsel in Burwell v. Hobby and defended the school board in the Gavin Grimm case, leading the fight to deny transgender individuals their civil rights.

Thomas Farr drew the attention of the US Justice Department while serving on the Jesse Helms for Senate Campaign. The campaign led an illegal effort to intimidate and mislead black voters to keep them from the polls. Farr has supported getting rid of legal protections for employees arguing it was “better policy” when North Carolina eliminated the right of workers to bring any employment discrimination lawsuit in court.