Westbrook, Maine – Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett issued the following statement today criticizing Republican Senator Susan Collins for casting a vote to confirm anti-LGBTQ judge Kyle Duncan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit:
“We are saddened that Senator Collins didn’t have the courage to stand up for the rights of LGBTQ Americans. By rubber stamping extreme judges like Kyle Duncan, Senator Collins is helping President Trump inflict lasting damage on the American judicial system and on countless American citizens who will have to live under the dark veil of Duncan’s discriminatory views. This is just another sad example of how Senator Collins is not the moderate she claims to be.”
Kyle Duncan has a long history of anti-LGBTQ advocacy, including defending North Carolina’s discriminatory law that excluded transgender people from using public bathrooms matching their gender identities. Duncan also advocated on behalf of the State of Louisiana to uphold its ban on same-sex marriage and argued against a couple married in New York from having their names added to the birth certificate of a child they adopted.
The Human Rights Commission, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood, the National Education Association, and the Alliance for Justice, among many other organizations, had all called on the Senate to reject Duncan’s nomination.
Additionally, Nicole Maines, a transgender woman whose bravery before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court helped secure rights for transgender people across Maine, published an op-ed in the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel calling on Senator Collins to oppose Duncan’s nomination, writing, “There’s no way I would’ve had a fair hearing if Kyle Duncan were my judge.”
Senator Collins has made quietly approving President Trump’s extreme or unqualified nominees a bad habit. Despite voicing concerns about Jim Brindenstein to lead NASA, Collins voted to confirm him even though he has little relevant experience to lead the agency. Additionally, last year, Collins voted to confirm to the federal bench a judge who was rated unqualified by the American Bar Association.
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