Barrett Gave A Presentation On Constitutional Law To A Legal Fellowship Program Sponsored By The Alliance Defending Freedom, A Religious Conservative Group Labeled A “Hate Group” By The Southern Poverty Law Center. According to Indianapolis Star, “When she was a law professor, Barrett gave an hour presentation on constitutional law to a legal fellowship program sponsored by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative religious liberty advocacy group. The Southern Poverty Law Center has called Alliance Defending Freedom an ‘anti-LGBT hate group’ that supports recriminalization of homosexuality, has linked homosexuality to pedophilia and has worked on legislation that would allow gays and lesbians to be denied goods and services on the basis of religion.” [Indianapolis Star, 7/8/17]
Alliance Defending Freedom Supported Recriminalizing Homosexuality, Likened Homosexuality To Pedophilia, And Supported Legislation To Allow Businesses To Deny Services To Members Of The LGBT Community. According to Indianapolis Star, “When she was a law professor, Barrett gave an hour presentation on constitutional law to a legal fellowship program sponsored by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative religious liberty advocacy group. The Southern Poverty Law Center has called Alliance Defending Freedom an ‘anti-LGBT hate group’ that supports recriminalization of homosexuality, has linked homosexuality to pedophilia and has worked on legislation that would allow gays and lesbians to be denied goods and services on the basis of religion.” [Indianapolis Star, 7/8/17]
Barrett Said She Didn’t Know If Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Anti-LGBT Hate Group” Label Was Appropriate For Alliance Defending Freedom And That She Thought It Was A “Matter Of Public Controversy.” According to The Indianapolis Star, “When she was a law professor, Barrett gave an hour presentation on constitutional law to a legal fellowship program sponsored by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative religious liberty advocacy group. The Southern Poverty Law Center has called Alliance Defending Freedom an ‘anti-LGBT hate group’ that supports recriminalization of homosexuality, has linked homosexuality to pedophilia and has worked on legislation that would allow denial ofgoods and services on the basis of religion. Barrett told the Senate Judiciary Committee last year that she doesn't know whether the Southern Poverty Law Center's description is accurate and ‘I understand its characterization to be a matter of public controversy.’” [Indianapolis Star, 7/8/18]
2015: Barrett Signed A Letter To Catholic Bishops That Affirmed The Church’s Teaching That Marriage Was The “Indissoluble Commitment Of A Man And A Woman.” According to Indianapolis Star, “In 2015, Barrett signed a letter to Catholic bishops that, among other things, affirmed the church’s teaching ‘on marriage and family founded on the indissoluble commitment of a man and a woman’ and on ‘the significance of sexual difference and the complementarity of men and women.’” [Indianapolis Star, 7/8/18][p1][p2]
Barrett Said The Catholic Church’s View Was Irrelevant To The Legal Question Of Same-Sex Marriage. According to Indianapolis Star, “But she told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the church’s view is irrelevant to the legal question of the right of same-sex couples to marry. ‘In the context of same-sex marriages and in any context, my religious beliefs really would not bear on that at all,’ she testified. ‘I think one of the great traditions in this country is that judges participate in the law, participate in the decision of cases, and rule even when they disagree with the outcome.’” [Indianapolis Star, 7/8/18]
After The Supreme Court Declined To Hear Arguments In An Indiana Case Appealing, An Order That Struck Down Indiana's Gay Marriage Ban, Barrett Called The Decision Unsurprising. According the South Bend Tribune, “The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear appeals from same-sex marriage cases in Indiana and four other states, lifting the stay on gay marriages that has been in effect since the state appealed a federal judge's order that struck down Indiana's gay marriage ban.[…] Amy Coney Barrett, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, said the U.S. Supreme Court typically only takes cases when there has been a split in opinion in the circuit courts.‘I think some people are surprised because it's such a big issue so they were hoping the Supreme Court would weigh in,’ Barrett said. "But given that typical standard of intervening, it's kind of not surprising.’” [South Bend Tribune, 10/7/14]
Leadership Conference On Civil And Human Rights: Barrett “Has Expressed Deeply Held Opposition To Marriage Equality.” According to the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights via Targeted News Service, “LGBT Rights: Professor Barrett has also expressed deeply held opposition to marriage equality, signing on to an October 2015 letter that stated: ‘We give witness that the Church's teachings - on the dignity of the human person and the value of human life from conception to natural death; on the meaning of human sexuality, the significance of sexual difference and the complementarity of men and women; on openness to life and the gift of motherhood; and on marriage and family founded on the indissoluble commitment of a man and a woman - provide a sure guide to the Christian life.’ [11] This language, embraced by Professor Barrett, is in direct conflict with the Supreme Court's June 2015 decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584 (2015), which established a constitutional right to marriage equality in America. Professor Barrett's bias on LGBT issues would require her to recuse in all cases involving LGBT equality and must be explored at her hearing.” [Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights via Targeted News Service, 8/29/17]
2016: Barrett Said That It Was “[Straining] The Text” Of Title 9 To Say That It Protected Transgender Bathroom Access. According to a lecture Barrett gave at the Jacksonville University Public Policy Institute,“When Title 9 was enacted, it’s pretty clear that no one, including the Congress that enacted that statute, would have dreamed of that result at that time. Maybe things have changed so that we should change Title 9. Maybe, you know, those arguing in favor of this kind of transgender bathroom access are right. That’s a public policy debate to have, but it does seem to strain the text of the statute to say that Title 9 demands it.” [Hesburgh Lecture 2016: Professor Amy Barrett at the JU Public Policy Institute, Jacksonville University, YouTube, 41:16-41:40, 11/3/16]