A law professor wth no political experience wants to be the Attorney General of Missouri, and he wants to use anti-LGBT animus to win.Â
Josh Hawley is running to be Missouri’s next Attorney General. A constitutional law professor, Hawley signed onto a Supreme Court brief submitted by the Becket Fund, but seems to, according to The Missouri Times, be positioning himself as the attorney who argued the case before the Supreme Court – which he did not.
“A leading national expert on the issue of religious freedom, Josh was co-counsel on the landmark Supreme Court case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, the most important decision on our First Amendment liberties in decades,” his campaign website states.Â
Hawley is running on a platform that insists Missourians need more protection for their religious freedoms, and now his target is the LGBT community.
As he’s not a lawmaker or elected politician, Hawley’s campaign rests on his asking Missouri lawmakers to pass a “religious freedom” bill, similar to the broad and sweeping legislation that drew national attention in Indiana, Arkansas, and other states. Hawley sent a letter to GOP lawmakers, asking them “to make sure religious liberty is at the top of the agenda’’ when next year’s session of the General Assembly begins in January.
“Hawley is proposing that lawmakers consider crafting legislation that would protect churches, ministers and religious organizations or institutions from being ‘fined or sued or punished by the government in any way for following centuries-old religious teaching on marriage,'” St. Louis Public Radio reports. Hawley proudly tweeted that article:
Hawley also wants protections “for any ‘business person of faith,’’ who he says may otherwise be ‘forced to participate in or service a wedding ceremony that violates his or her sincere religious convictions.'”
In other words, Hawley wants to make it legal for any business or person to refuse service to same-sex couples if they claim they hold a religious belief against same-sex marriage and/or LGBT people. Hawley’s position means he wants LGBT people to be deprived of the right to equal treatment and protection.
On his website, Hawley proudly states the Family Research Council has endorsed him. FRC is listed on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of anti-gay hate groups.
In this campaign ad, Hawley talks about his positions on religious liberty. The video shows several images of U.S. military personnel, but his campaign website does not state Hawley served in the armed forces. NCRM has reached out to his campaign for clarification but has yet to receive a response.
Watch:
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Image: Screenshot via Hawley Campaign/YouTubeÂ
Hat tip: Joe.My.God.
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