(Washington, DC, January 15, 2019) – Sharon McGowan, Legal Director and Chief Strategy Officer of Lambda Legal, issued the following statement after BuzzFeed News reported on a series of Naomi Rao’s inflammatory writings:

“Neomi Rao lacks the judgement and credibility to be an independent and impartial judge on any court. I hope this episode serves as reminder to the entire Trump administration that we are not a ‘choice,’ we are not a ‘trend,’ and the LGBT community deserves judges who will treat them with respect. Her statements on sexual assault, diversity, and marriage equality should immediately disqualify her from any nomination for a lifetime appointment.”