LGBT Advocacy Groups Stand With Civil Rights Counterparts in Disappointment at Supreme Court Ruling on Voting Rights
NBJC STATEMENT:
"For decades, the Voting Rights Act combated racial discrimination at the polls. While much has changed over the last fifty years, we as a nation still have a long way to go. Legacies of racism live on. Just this past election, we witnessed firsthand how states attempted to disenfranchise Black voters. With the Court striking down such a central part of the Voting Rights Act, countless Americans will be subject to further discrimination. The Supreme Court's decision is a grave disservice to our community and our nation as a whole."
– Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks, Executive Director, National Black Justice Coalition
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Supreme Court struck down a central part of the Voting Rights Act, invalidating crucial protections passed by Congress in 1965 and renewed four times in the decades since. The sharply divided decision will significantly reduce the federal government’s role in overseeing voting laws in areas with a history of discrimination against African-Americans.
We, America’s leading LGBT advocacy organizations, join civil rights organizations – and indeed, all Americans whom this law has served to protect – in expressing acute dismay at today’s ruling. Not only had Congress repeatedly reaffirmed the need for this bedrock civil rights protection, but authoritative voices from across America had filed amicus briefs urging the court not to undermine the law: the NAACP; the American Bar Association; the Navajo Nation; the states of New York, California, Mississippi and North Carolina; numerous former Justice Department officials charged with protecting voting rights; dozens of U.S. senators and representatives; and many others.
These varied and powerful voices attest to the self-evident reality that racial protections are still needed in voting in this country. As recently as last year’s elections, political partisans resorted to voter suppression laws and tactics aimed at reducing the votes of people of color.
Voting rights protections, which have long served our nation’s commitment to equality and justice, should not be cast aside now. The court has done America a grave disservice, and we will work with our coalition partners to undo the damage inflicted by this retrogressive ruling.
All Out
Believe Out Loud
Center for Black Equity
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
The Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals
Courage Campaign
Equality Federation
Family Equality Council
Freedom to Marry
Freedom to Work
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders
Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC)
Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
Gay Straight Alliance Network
Get Equal
GLAAD
Harvey Milk Foundation
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Equality Action Fund
Lambda Legal
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC)
The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
PFLAG – National
Pride at Work, AFL-CIO
The Trevor Project
Trans Advocacy Network
Transgender Law Center
Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC)
Unid@s
