U.S. Senate Confirms Gay Judge Unanimously; Mark Obenshain Walked Out of VA Senate

Another day, yet another example of how far out of the mainstream Republican Attorney General nominee Mark "Criminalize Miscarriages" Obenshain is, even by the standards of hard-core conservatives. First, check this out: On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed Todd Hughes' nomination to be a judge on the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals on a 98-0 vote, making him the first out gay federal appellate judge in the nation's history. Among those 98 Senators voting "yea" on the nomination of an openly gay judge were: Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, James Inhofe, Mitch McConnell, and assorted other ultra conservatives.Now, contrast that with what happened when an openly gay judge was up for a confirmation vote in the Virginia State Senate. That's right, Mark Obenshain walked out of the Virginia Senate, rather than sully himself by voting on the nomination of a gay judge. In other words, when it comes to LGBT equality, Mark Obenshain is so far out of the mainstream that he wouldn't even do what Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, James Inhofe, and Mitch McConnell were capable of doing earlier today - voting on an openly gay judge's nomination, and even (gasp!) voting "yea!" It says a great deal, none of it good, about Mark Obenshain. P.S. I almost forgot to mention that Obenshain voted in 2011 to allow discrimination against gay and lesbian employees in the Virginia state workforce. Also in 2011, Obenshain voted against letting state Virginia government workers share health benefits with their same-sex partners. It goes on and on like this, anti-LGBT vote after anti-LGBT vote by Mark Obenshain. Of course, he's on a ticket with two other raging homophobes, so what else would we expect?