Sam Brownback hems & haws about anti-LGBTQ persecution, hate group tries to cover for him

Sam Brownback, governor of Kansas and Trump's pick for Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, had his hearing today on Capitol Hill. He'll probably be confirmed, but that doesn't mean the hearing was easy. He got a few battle scars courtesy of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va).

It was a memorable exchange on many levels, specifically how anti-LGBTQ hate group The Family Research Council tried to underplay it:

 Today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Governor Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) to be the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, a job then-Senator Brownback was pivotal in creating in 1998 to address religious persecution and genocide around the world. Despite the purpose of the post being to advocate for religious liberty broadly, Governor Brownback noted that some on the Committee focused on other issues. 

 Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he was concerned because Governor Brownback rolled back an executive order in Kansas that provided extra privileges for state employees based on sexual orientation. Governor Brownback replied he didn’t think it was the role of the executive branch to provide such privileges when the legislature did not pass a law to do so. Senator Kaine continuously drilled down on Governor Brownback, and even asked Governor Brownback if he was aware that there are countries where people who identify as LGBT are criminalized because of their sexual orientation. Senator Kaine also asked whether Governor Brownback thinks there is a circumstance where religious freedom can justify criminalizing people because of their LGBT status. Governor Brownback replied that he did not know what that justification would be.

Regarding FRC's last statement,

Senator Kaine also asked whether Governor Brownback thinks there is a circumstance where religious freedom can justify criminalizing people because of their LGBT status. Governor Brownback replied that he did not know what that justification would be.

in the immortal words of the actress Betty Gabriel in the classic scene of the horror movie, "Get Out:"

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO . . ."

In other words, FRC gave a badly truncated retelling, which the following clip courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign, proves (cued up to 4:50 - the exchange in question):

FRC being its usual deceptive self doesn't bother me as much as Brownback not giving a direct answer to Kaine's simple question.