Press

MEDIA CONTACT:
Roberta Sklar, Director of Communications
media@theTaskForce.org
646.358.1465

Twenty-one months ago, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force called for the removal of Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore after he wrote that the state has the power to "prohibit [homosexual] conduct with physical penalties such as confinement and even execution...to prevent the subversion of children toward this lifestyle." The Task Force lauded today's unanimous decision by a nine-member Alabama panel to remove Moore from his post for ignoring a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state Supreme Court building. The Task Force agrees with the panel that "the Judge placed himself above the law" and that his removal was appropriate.

The Task Force first called for Moore's removal in February 2002 when, in Ex Parte H. H., Chief Justice Moore denied a lesbian mother custody of her children. Moore stated that homosexual conduct itself creates a presumption of unfitness to be a parent. He wrote that homosexuality is "an inherent evil against which children must be protected." He also called homosexuality "abhorrent, immoral," and "detestable," as well as "an abominable sin." Most egregiously, Moore advocated extreme measures, stating that "[t]he State carries the power of the sword, that is, the power to prohibit conduct with physical penalties, such as confinement and even execution. It must use that power to prevent the subversion of children toward this lifestyle, to not encourage a criminal lifestyle."

"We are glad that, nearly two years after Chief Justice Moore shocked the American public with his medieval endorsement of capital punishment for gay people, fair-minded Alabamians have agreed that Moore is not suited to lead this most sacred and important institution of our judicial branch of government," said National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman. In recent months, Moore has been portrayed as a martyr facing religious persecution, and as a leader akin to Martin Luther King, Jr. The Task Force calls on the media to present the full picture of Chief Justice Moore, including his outrageous lesbian custody decision of nearly two years ago. For more information on this ruling and the Task Force's call for Moore's removal, see the Task Force media release online at: http://www.ngltf.org/press/releases/pr440_022202.

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.