Trump says he accepts marriage equality as the law
President-elect Donald Trump says he’s not planning to actively challenge marriage equality in the US.
In his first post-election television interview on Sunday, Trump appeared to reverse previous comments in which he suggested he would back reversing the June 2015 Supreme Court ruling that made same-sex marriage legal across the country.
“It’s law,” he told 60 Minutes. “It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it’s done.”
He added: “These cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They’ve been settled. And I’m – I’m fine with that.”
This stance is in opposition to the views of his evangelical running mate, Mike Pence, as well as the Republican Party’s policy on same-sex marriage.
While this might be welcomed by the LGBT community, Trump doesn’t seem to believe that the same logic applies to other issues and is set on taking on abortion rights in the US.
He said that he will appoint conservative judges to the Supreme Court who would be willing to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which made abortion legal across the US.
While Trump might not personally champion reversing marriage equality, chances are that these same justices might well also support repealing national marriage equality in cases brought to the court by individuals or organisations.
The anti-gay National Organisation For Marriage (NOM) has already gleefully welcomed Trump’s shock election victory and his support for new conservative Supreme Court judges.
“We will work with President Trump to nominate conservative justices to the US Supreme Court… who “will inevitably reverse the anti-constitutional ruling of the Supreme Court imposing same-sex ‘marriage’ on the nation…” said the organisation.
“This is a bright and exciting time for NOM, and we are committed to taking full advantage of the opportunity we have,” it added.
There are also fears that Trump will support efforts to allow LGBT discrimination by backing so-called “religious freedom” laws, which have been introduced in a number of US states.
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