Attorney general nominee and staunch marriage equality opponent Pam Bondi promised to respect the law regarding same-sex marriage if she is confirmed by the Senate.

During Bondi’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) concluded his line of questioning by asking her if she would respect and defend marriage equality. He called it an issue “important to a great many Californians and people around the country.”

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Bondi replied, “I will respect the law. Absolutely.”

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At the height of the marriage equality battle in the courts leading to the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision by the Supreme Court in 2015, Bondi was a vocal opponent of same-sex unions.

As attorney general for Florida in 2014, she filed a response asking a federal judge to throw out a marriage equality case in Florida, arguing that recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states would result in what she called “significant public harm.” Her declaration was part of a protracted and ultimately unsuccessful legal fight to preserve Florida’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

A court filing from Bondi asserted that an injunction to block the ban in her state, effectively allowing same-sex marriage, “would irreparably harm the State of Florida.” Her office incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs as she continued to fight same-sex marriage in the state, even after bans in nearly 20 states had been struck down.

Bondi persisted with a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Florida’s gay marriage prohibition. Equality Florida described Bondi’s response at the time as “deplorable.”

After the Pulse shooting in June of 2016, she tried to rewrite history and hold herself up as a staunch defender of LGBTQ+ rights. Bondi endorsed Donald Trump for president the same year.

In 2014, the Tampa Bay Times named Bondi “Loser” of the year, describing her as a “modern-day Anita Bryant” for her “relentless defense of Florida’s gay marriage ban.”

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