Marco Rubio: Roll Back Gay Marriage and Protections for Trans People

While the world was aghast at Donald Trump's latest discriminatory comments about Muslims, Marco Rubio more quietly recommitted himself to discriminatory policies against the LGBT community. In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network this weekend, the Miami Republican and surging presidential candidate announced he'd appoint anti-gay marriage justices to the Supreme Court, roll back President Barack Obama's executive actions that protected LGBT people, and take aim at laws that protect transgendered individuals' right to use the bathroom. 

In the interview with CBN's David Brody, Rubio took the tack that he wasn't discriminating against LGBT people, but rather protecting people's religious freedom to discriminate against LGBT people. 

"There’s no doubt that we need to be extra vigilant now about protecting the religious liberties of Americans, and that includes having a justice department that’s vigilant about ensuring that those who hold traditional values are not being discriminated against," Rubio said. "That includes reversing any administrative decisions made by this president that force religious, or religious-motivated entities. You may not be owned by a church, but you are a religious school, or your mission is to spread the Gospel and adhere to God’s teachings, ensure that people in the private sector and the not-for-profit sector are being protected in living out their faith." 

Rubio also committed to making sure he only appointed justices to the Supreme Court who disagreed with the latest ruling that legalized same-sex marriage across the country. 

"I think one of the biggest things the next president is going to do is appoint justices to the Supreme Court — justices who understand that the Constitution is a living and breathing document," said Rubio. "It is a document of limitation and it’s supposed to be interpreted and applied based on its original intent. And there is no way that you can read that Constitution and deduce from it that there is constitutional right to an abortion, or a constitutional right to marry someone of the same sex. And what you have is a Supreme Court that wanted to reach a certain policy outcome and so creatively manipulated the Constitution to discover a right that for over two centuries, some of the most brilliant minds and legal history didn’t find. So you need judges that understand how constitutionally flawed those two kinds of rulings and others have been, and that’s why the most important thing the next President will do is appoint Supreme Court Justices that actually will apply the Constitution irrespective of their personal feelings about the issue." 

Brody then specifically asked Rubio about Obama's executive orders that extended some existing federal anti-discrimination laws to include trans people. 

"Well, the executive orders would be to reverse the executive orders the President has made on things like gender equality in restrooms," Rubio said. 

Obama's orders also prohibit contractors who work with the federal government from discriminating against the LGBT community. Rubio doesn't agree with that either. 

"There are many government contractors and small companies who provide services to the government who are faith-based people, and they are, they are being compelled to sin by government in their business conduct," Rubio said. "That is not something we should be supporting." 

While many argue that Trump's plan to place a total hold on Muslims entering the U.S. would not be constitutional, Rubio's plans to roll back LGBT rights certainly are well within the power he'd have as president.