Educator and activist Chasten Buttigieg issued a harsh rebuke of the Republican Party after the majority of House Republicans voted against a measure to protect marriage equality amid fears that the Supreme Court would strike it down following its recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Since it was decided in 1973, Roe v. Wade hinged on the right to privacy that while not explicitly granted in the United States Constitution was nonetheless accepted per the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (which grants all citizens “equal protection of the laws.") The Supreme Court's recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization struck down the right to privacy underpinnings of Roe, which, many fear, will now call other Supreme Court rulings that were based on that same foundation, such as those regarding contraception, same-sex and interracial marriage, into question.
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas suggested in a solo concurring opinion that established gay rights (Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges) and contraception rights (Griswold v. Connecticut) should be reconsidered now that the federal right to reproductive freedom has been revoked, calling them "demonstrably erroneous" and calling on the Court to "correct the error."
Thomas's opinion spurred the House of Representatives to pass bills to codify the right to an abortion as well as marriage equality into law.
But the final vote on the marriage equality measure — 267-157, with only 47 of the 211 House Republicans voting in favor — prompted Buttigieg to declare that the GOP is "#OutOfTouch" with the American public.
Buttigieg pointed out that 77 percent of House Republicans voted against the marriage equality measure despite the fact that 70 percent of Americans support marriage equality.
He later criticized Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel directly, who he said "celebrates" LGBTQ+ Pride even though Republicans do not support marriage equality per the official GOP platform.
Buttigieg statements bring to mind last year's intraparty scandal when McDaniel backtracked on announced efforts to reach out to LGBTQ+ voters after she received considerable pushback from the religious right.
He cautioned that "When a party shows you who they are, believe them."
Others concurred with Buttigieg's assessment and offered their own criticisms of Republicans following the House vote.
Some of the House's most prominent Republicans voted against the marriage equality measure, including Representatives Lauren Boebert (Colorado); Madison Cawthorn (North Carolina); Andrew Clyde, Dan Crenshaw, and Louie Gohmert (Texas); Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia); and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (California).
All of them have previously spoken out against LGBTQ+ rights in some capacity, some more vigorously than others.
Boebert and Greene for instance have regularly been accused of harboring homophobic — not to mention transphobic — sentiments and have previously made headlines for attacking Buttigieg's husband, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Last year, Boebert criticized Secretary Buttigieg for taking parental leave amid a global supply-chain crisis, saying he was "not working" because he was "trying to figure out how to chestfeed."
Greene, for her part, made headlines last spring after she demanded that the Buttigiegs “stay out of our girls' bathrooms" and suggested that they are both sexual predators.
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