"Activist judges":
Code for Judges Who Enforce Equal Rights for GLBT Americans

The term “activist judge” is an empty slogan, something invented to give extremists a convenient, easy-to-remember and serious-sounding way to criticize judges and decisions they find disagreeable. Often, this epithet is used as a way to demonize judges who recognize that constitutional rights apply to all Americans, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.  

We’ve collected some examples of the “activist judge” label being used to attack judges who recognize equal rights for GLBT Americans:

“If activist judges insist on re-defining marriage by court order, the only alternative will be the constitutional process.”
— President George W. Bush, Feb. 4, 2004.  

“We will do whatever it takes to protect, preserve and strengthen the institution of marriage against activist judges.”
— Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Jan. 23, 2004.

 “The real threat to the states is not the constitutional amendment process, in which the states participate, but activist judges who disregard the law and redefine marriage in order to impose their will on the states, and on the whole nation. At this point, the only way to re-establish the status quo ante is to preserve the definition of marriage in the federal Constitution before courts redefine it out of existence.”
—  Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, June 22, 2004.

 “Judicial tyranny is alive and well and reigning in San Francisco. … California won’t be left in the dust on this issue thanks to an activist court in San Francisco.” — The Rev. Louis Sheldon, chairman of Anaheim-based Traditional Values Coalition, reacting to a San Francisco court ruling that same-sex couples could marry, March 15, 2005.

“Right now an activist judge could come through any day and change the definition of marriage in our state, and this [proposed constitutional amendment] would protect it.”
— New Hampshire state Rep. Nancy Elliot, R-Merrimack, explaining her support for an amendment to New Hampshire’s constitution prohibiting the marriage of same-sex couples, Feb. 7, 2006.

“We are forced to bring a constitutional amendment [barring marriage for same-sex couples] to the floor because of activist courts and activist judges.”
— Former Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, speaking in support the Federal Marriage Amendment, Sept. 29, 2004.

You may notice a pattern here. Maybe even a chorus, of which these quoted comments are only a sampling. It turns out “activist” judges are often simply judges who recognize that equal rights includes equal marriage rights.