We Listened, We Heard
Now it's Time for Action

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee completed the confirmation hearing for Senator Jeff Sessions. 

We waited, providing Senator Sessions with every opportunity to ensure us and the American public he would uphold the protections our country guarantees through the US Constitution to minority communities as Attorney General, but we were gravely disappointed. 

Among those who testified, we heard from the Honorable Senator Cory Booker and the Honorable Congressman John Lewis, both of whom expressed their grave concerns over the appointment of Senator Sessions to Attorney General. Congressman Lewis, winner of the LGBT Bar's 2004 Straight Ally Award, proclaimed:

"We can pretend that the law is blind. We can pretend that it is even-handed. But if we are honest with ourselves, we know that we are called upon daily by the people we represent to help them deal with unfairness in how the law is written and enforced. Those who are committed to equal justice in our society wonder whether Senator Sessions' call for law and order will mean today what it meant in Alabama when I was coming up back then."

We also heard Judy Shepard, mother of the late Matthew Shepard, earlier this week when she shared - so eloquently - her fears for the future and her concern that vulnerable Americans like her remaining son, Logan, will no longer be safe under an Attorney General Sessions. 

We must take action. Call your senators today and tell them that you do not support the appointment of Senator Jeff Sessions to US Attorney General. It is through your vocal dissent that the LGBT Bar can make a difference.