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Commentary

Who are the Republicans and Conservatives Opposing the Tennessee SAFE Act?

September 5, 2024

In an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, a group of professed “Republicans and political conservatives from diverse backgrounds who have served as federal, state, and local officeholders or as senior advisors to such officials” have weighed in on the upcoming challenge to Tennessee’s law protecting minors from gender transition procedures. The brief subverts expectations by siding against the Republican-led bill, and with the Biden administration’s Department of Justice, which has challenged it.

But the appended list of signatories to the brief attests to the minority status of those who hold this view.

Current Officeholders

Out of 31 signers, only four are currently in office: Kentucky Representative Kim Banta (R), Iowa Representative Chad Ingels (R), Missouri Representative Chris Sander (R), and Wyoming Representative Dan Zwonitzer (R).

All four representatives serve in states that enacted legislation to protect minors from gender transition procedures. Banta was one of three House Republicans in Kentucky to vote against the veto override for that state’s bill protecting children from gender transition procedures, but the veto override still passed overwhelmingly (76-23). Likewise, Ingels was one of five Republicans to vote against Iowa’s version of the bill, which still passed 58-39. And Sander was one of three Republicans to vote against Missouri’s bill, which still passed 108-50.

Somewhat surprisingly, Zwonitzer actually voted for the bill, which passed (55-6) with only one Republican opposed. Oil City News noted that Zwonitzer is “the only openly gay member of the Wyoming Legislature,” with a pro-LGBT voting record. In August, Zwonitzer lost to a primary challenger aligned with the Freedom Caucus, who attacked his pro-LGBT voting record.

Former U.S. Representatives

The brief was also signed by nine former members of Congress. Four of these have endorsed or said they plan to vote for incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris for president, including former Reps. Susan Molinari, Barbara Comstock, Denver Riggleman, and Christopher Shays. Former Rep. Connie Morella endorsed Joe Biden for president in 2020.

Many of these representatives were not known for their social conservatism. Morella was the principal co-sponsor of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which the Biden administration has used to target pro-life protestors in front of abortion facilities. Former Reps. Sarah Davis and Deborah Pryce also defied their party to support abortion. Former Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was the only Republican member to join the original LGBT Equality Caucus, due in part to having a child who is a transgender activist. Riggleman also supports same-sex marriage, to the extent that he officiated a same-sex wedding for two former campaign volunteers.

Most surprising of all for a former Republican lawmaker, former Rep. Claudine Schneider, who left office in 1991 and now lives in Boulder, Colo., was a plaintiff in the lawsuit last fall to kick Donald Trump, at that point the presumptive Republican nominee, off the Colorado ballot.

Others

In addition to four current state representatives and nine former members of Congress, most of the signatories on the brief have been out of political office for a long time. Three people on the list (in addition to Morella) served in the Bush administration. Nine people on the list participated in the 2008 McCain campaign, the 2012 Romney campaign, or the Republican National Committee over the same period. Two more were former congressional staffers, including the chief of staff for former Rep. Shays from 1998-2008 and the legislative director for Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) from 2008-2012.

The other four names on the list include a former two-term member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, the former chair of the Trenton Republican Committee, a former school board member, “the Nation’s first openly transgender elected Republican,” and a Republican lobbyist with a transgender-identifying child.

The final name deserving of mention is not a signatory to this brief but the D.C.-based lawyer who serves as counsel of record with the U.S. Supreme Court. The brief was prepared by Goodwin Proctor LLP, a giant, international law firm, and the counsel of record is Brian T. Burgess. Burgess clerked for Justice Sonia Sotomayor in 2012-2013. He has argued two Supreme Court cases on behalf of prisoners (with a 1-1 record), and he was involved with litigation to block the Trump administration’s DACA rule in 2020.

Takeaways

Two features stand out about the list. One is the prevalence of northeastern Republicans, long known for being more socially liberal than Republicans elsewhere in the country. This brand of Republicanism is an endangered species; Senator Collins is currently the only member of Congress from the six New England states. Relatedly, the other feature that stands out is how far removed many of these figures are from politics today. Many of them had careers in government or politics a decade ago, two decades or even longer.

If this brief represented the perspective of a sizable number of elected Republicans, then surely this group has persuaded a single Republican governor, senator, or current U.S. House member to sign their name. The brief does not even include the signatures of former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson or Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, who vetoed SAFE Acts. The fact that this brief could not gather more signatures from current Republican leaders speaks volumes.

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.