During a 1985 interview for a top position in the Missouri State Cabinet, Sen. John Ashcroft, then Missouri Governor, allegedly asked interviewee Paul Offner, a health care policy expert who was applying to head Missouri’s Department of Social Services, about his sexuality, implying he would not get the job if he were gay. While such a question during an interview would not violate Missouri law, which does not prohibit discrimination in hiring based on sexual orientation, it does contradict Ashcroft’s testimony during his Senate Confirmation Hearing for Attorney General when he told Senators that “sexual orientation has never been something that I’ve used in hiring in any of the jobs, in any of the offices, I’ve held.”
Ashcroft’s conflicting statements about hiring practices his stance on gay rights are not the first to come to light during his Confirmation Hearings. Ashcroft has a long history of anti-woman, anti-abortion, anti-civil rights, and anti-gay extremism, yet during his Confirmation Hearings, Ashcroft pledged to uphold all laws that protect, women, abortion, minorities and gays, despite his staunch opposition. Such conflicting statements have led to many Senators coming out against Ashcroft and vowing not to vote for his confirmation.
To learn more about John Ashcroft’s record against women, abortion, minorities and gays, visit www.feminist.org/AppointmentWatch.
Take Action and oppose John Ashcroft’s confirmation as Attorney General.
Read today’s Feminist Majority Foundation press release “Two John Ashcrofts _ One 25 Year Record Against Women’s Rights.”
