Trump's nominee to lead civil rights unit defended an anti-LGBT law
By Jeff Taylor · Friday, June 30, 2017
President Donald Trump appointed a Washington, D.C. lawyer, Eric Dreiband to lead the Justice Departments civil rights division.
Dreiband not only argued on behalf of the University of North Carolina in support of House Bill 2, a law that limited bathroom use for transgender people and invalidated nondiscrimination ordinances passed by cities in the state offering protections to the LGBTQ community.
He also represented companies in discrimination cases, including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in an age discrimination case, as well as Bloomberg in a pregnancy discrimination case.
The choice is drawing criticism from advocates, including Vanita Gupta, who heads up the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and who was a leader of the civil rights division under Barack Obama.
Whoever leads the crown jewel of the Justice Department must have deep relationships with stakeholders and marginalized communities, and have a deep, abiding faith in our nations civil rights laws, Gupta said in a statement. They must respect the laws that touch everyone, rights that people have literally died for. They must respect the role of what has been called the conscience of the federal government. In all those regards, Eric Dreiband is woefully unqualified to lead the Civil Rights Division.
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https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/06/trumps-nominee-lead-civil-rights-unit-defended-anti-lgbt-law