澳彩开奖

For the first time ever, a sitting president spoke at the gathering 鈥� shamefully lending the legitimacy of the White House to hate groups like the Summit鈥檚 host, the Family Research Council, and its president, Tony Perkins.

What鈥檚 more, President Trump鈥檚 former chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, also addressed the audience and took the opportunity to attack us.

I鈥檓 not surprised that Bannon singled us out for his vitriol. We鈥檝e been a thorn in the FRC鈥檚 side for years 鈥� calling out the group because it relentlessly vilifies the LGBT community with demonizing rhetoric and falsehoods.

We鈥檝e always believed it鈥檚 important to take on groups like the FRC that have a foothold in the mainstream. In many ways, they鈥檙e more dangerous to our country than hatemongers who wear robes and hoods.

Now, it鈥檚 even more important. Trump has brought the FRC closer into the mainstream and has given it a voice in his administration 鈥� just as he did with Bannon, a champion of the reemerging white nationalist movement that calls itself the 鈥渁lt-right.鈥�

No one should be fooled. These are people and groups who harbor extreme beliefs that are antithetical to the very foundations of our democracy.

One of the headliners at the Summit, for example, was Roy Moore 鈥� the former Alabama chief justice who in a 2002 judicial opinion that the state would be justified in executing gay men and women to protect children. Moore also in 2006 that Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, shouldn鈥檛 be allowed to serve because of his faith. As any judge should know, the U.S. Constitution explicitly bars any sort of religious test as a prerequisite to holding federal office.

We鈥檝e twice had Moore removed from the Alabama Supreme Court for thumbing his nose at the Constitution. The first time, in 2003, was after he defied a federal court order to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments that he had installed in the state judicial building. The second time was after he ordered state officials to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples even after the U.S. Supreme Court settled the issue with its landmark ruling in 2015.

Bannon, however, called Moore a 鈥済ood and righteous man鈥� during his Summit appearance. It tells you that Bannon has no more respect for the rule of law than does our president.

If the FRC and its allies had their way, our country would return to the days when gay people were in the closet and faced the risk of being jailed for being who they are.

Because we鈥檝e been calling out the FRC and groups like it for their vilification of the LGBT community, they鈥檝e been attacking us in right-wing media outlets like Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and Breitbart News, which is led by Bannon.

Now that Trump has given the FRC unprecedented access to the White House, it will be more powerful than ever and the LGBT community will be at even greater risk.

It鈥檚 the reason why our work is more important than ever.