While out Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was confirmed by a bipartisan vote of 86-13, who voted against the confirmation of the first gay Cabinet Secretary?
All Republicans from conservative states, the group have long histories of opposing LGBTQ rights. While none of them cited Buttigieg’s orientation for their vote, the senators have spent their careers decrying anything remotely queer.
Related: QAnon congresswoman sponsors bill to ban the rainbow flag at embassies
Some of the senators objected to the certification of electoral college votes mere hours after insurrectionists stormed the Capitol building in their own attempt to stop the certification.
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The contrarian senators were:
- Marsha Blackburn (TN)
- Bill Cassidy (LA)
- Tom Cotton (AR)
- Ted Cruz (TX)
- Bill Hagerty (TN)
- Josh Hawley (MO)
- James Lankford (OK)
- Roger Marshall (KS)
- Marco Rubio (FL)
- Rick Scott (FL)
- Tim Scott (SC)
- Richard Shelby (AL)
- Tommy Tuberville (AL)
The entire group support giving Christians a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people under the guise of “religious freedom.” All oppose expanding civil rights protections to transgender people and marriage equality.
Other than Tuberville and Hagerty, who are recent additions to the chamber, the others have consistently voted against issues of importance to the LGBTQ community.
Cruz and Hawley, two of the seditious ringleaders of the attempted coup, aren’t just loathed by the LGBTQ community, their political peers don’t like them either. There have been calls for both men to resign over their responsibility in stoking the riot.
“If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) joked in 2016.
It’s also worth noting that Cotton, Cruz, Hawley, Rubio, and Rick Scott all have presidential ambitions and are considering running for the office in 2024. As Republicans, they’ll need the support of the religious right to win.
