…and other ramblings. Tune out now if you don’t want to hear my liberal take on things.

I’m feeling fired up. I just read a 1999 case from New Jersey, Dale v. Boy Scouts of America (734 A.2d 1196 (N.J. 1999)), that was eventually reversed by the Supreme Court in 2000 (BSA v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 (2000)). In the case, a lifelong Boy Scout became an adult member but also came out of the closet as gay. He did not communicate this fact to BSA, but there was an article in his college newspaper which identified him as such. Of course, the BSA got their hands on it and expelled him on the grounds that the BSA does not admit avowed homosexuals to membership in the organization. The New Jersey case focused on the definition of the BSA as a “place” of public accommodation and whether, if the BSA was a place of public accommodation, they had violated anti-discrimination laws. In a moment of sanity, the court held that the BSA was a place of public accommodation (and cited several reasons, including their connection to public schools and the federal government) and that Dale’s rights had been violated.

The Supreme Court reversed this decision, but only on a 5-4 vote. The slim majority held that it would “significantly burden” the BSA if they were forced to admit gays and that it infringes on the group’s right to freedom of association. I think the one thing I have learned so far in law school that is really sticking with me and kicking me in the gut on a daily basis is the fallibility of our Supreme Court (and especially Scalia–don’t even get me started on that guy). Every argument against BSA was by far stronger than those for BSA. Even Scout law says that “A Scout is reverent…and respects the beliefs of others.” The have a strict policy of respect towards other religious beliefs and that sexuality should be the subject of family discussion. It is not the purview of the BSA.

Whenever gay rights issues come up, I just have to shake my head. I cannot understand why religious types think that THEY are RIGHT. And that THEY have the RIGHT to impose their judgmental beliefs on ME (and others). At some point, I hope this nation can look back on the absurdity that has been the last three decades of discrimination and admit our failures. It took ages for women and minorities to gain the same rights as the old white man, and I suppose this is just another example. But still. Don’t you have something better to worry about than what I or anyone else is doing in their bedroom?? Who made you judge, jury, and executioner? (Oh yeah… in this case, religious conservatives appointed the likes of Scalia, Rehnquist, and Thomas as judges FOR LIFE (Regan, Regan, and Bush, respectively).)

I just get sick to my stomach thinking about people who have to fight for equal rights just because of their sexual preferences. It defies logic. The Judgy McJudgersons of this world should take a good hard look in the mirror and ask themselves why they think their moral compass is the one that the entire nation should be following. It reminds me of a past boyfriend of mine… and Eagle Scout. He was vehemently opposed to gays as Scout leaders because he thought–get this–that they were all pedophiles. Being gay does not make a man a pedophile. It’s attitudes like that, and the one espoused by the Supreme Court in 2000, that leave me with little hope for the future.