By Bob Roehr
WASHINGTON, DC – Judge Michael Mukasey, the Bush administration's nominee for U.S. attorney general, said he would treat LGBT employees and their organizations no differently than others, at his Senate confirmation hearing on Oct. 18.
Senate Judicial Committee member Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) had pressed the nominee on the issue. The senator noted that the Attorney General Janet Reno had not discriminated against gays, but all that changed when conservative John Ashcroft held the post from 2001 to 2004.
"While DOJ Pride, an organization of GLBT employees (in the Department of Justice), is permitted to use department space to hold events," Feingold said, "it is prohibited from advertising those events on public billboards, in department buildings – again, unlike organizations for minority employees at the department.
"Similarly, the department refuses to recruit at job fairs aimed at GLBT attorneys but sends recruiters to job fairs aimed at other minority groups. I am troubled by this."
Feingold then asked, "Will you stop the disparate treatment of gay and lesbian employees at DOJ?"
Mukasey replied, "I don't understand the reason for that treatment. When I was a district judge, I interviewed and hired without regard to any matter relating to the personal life of a prospective law clerk, any matter of that kind. And I see no reason why there should be any different standard at the department."
Chris Hook, president of DOJ Pride, was "pleasantly surprised by Mukasey's response. We're looking forward to working with him." The association had sent a letter to members of the committee asking that the issue be raised and the nominee's answer put on the record.
Leonard Hirsch, the president of Federal GLOBE – the overarching association of LGBT employee groups in the federal government – also welcomed the response. He said he hopes that Mukasey "fulfills the reading of his response, which will allow DOJ Pride to fully utilize department resources for their communications and events.
"Making the federal government a model employer is vital in these times, and this would be a welcome step on the long road to equal treatment and inclusiveness," Hirsch continued. "We hope that AG Mukasey meets with DOJ Pride as soon as practical in his tenure."
