Preserve the Balance
Team Supreme Blog
"Just Us" Sunday...
Yesterday, a constellation of anti-gay stars gathered in Nashville for the second installment of what they called Justice Sunday. Of course, I think it should be called "Just Us Sunday" because it was about excluding everybody else from the Constitution that doesn't conform to their narrow views about our nation's most revered document.
The anti-gay rhetoric was spewing. One speaker suggested that the courts invented the right of homosexuality. One claimed that the courts are making up rights, including the right to privacy and "the idea that two guys can get married." More on these rants later.
However, the organizers and speakers — including Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Tony Perkins, Phyllis Schlafly and James Dobson — claimed that the rally wasn't a pro-John Roberts gathering. Instead, DeLay, in talking about the purpose of the rally, said "We're here to protect the court so it can keep protecting us."
Well, then Mr. DeLay... who is "us"? Is "us" gay men and lesbians who were branded as criminals before Lawrence v. Texas? Is "us" the gay men and lesbians who were denied access to the political process in Colorado before the Supreme Court struck down Amendment 2 in Romer v. Evans? Is "us" the universities that want to bar recruiters from campuses that are in violation of their own anti-discrimination policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation?
For the Delays and Schlaflys and other anti-gay all-stars, it was a gathering of "Just Us." A true "Just Us Sunday". And now we in the GLBT community have heard yet again that these folks think the Constitution covers only Just Them.
The anti-gay rhetoric was spewing. One speaker suggested that the courts invented the right of homosexuality. One claimed that the courts are making up rights, including the right to privacy and "the idea that two guys can get married." More on these rants later.
However, the organizers and speakers — including Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Tony Perkins, Phyllis Schlafly and James Dobson — claimed that the rally wasn't a pro-John Roberts gathering. Instead, DeLay, in talking about the purpose of the rally, said "We're here to protect the court so it can keep protecting us."
Well, then Mr. DeLay... who is "us"? Is "us" gay men and lesbians who were branded as criminals before Lawrence v. Texas? Is "us" the gay men and lesbians who were denied access to the political process in Colorado before the Supreme Court struck down Amendment 2 in Romer v. Evans? Is "us" the universities that want to bar recruiters from campuses that are in violation of their own anti-discrimination policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation?
For the Delays and Schlaflys and other anti-gay all-stars, it was a gathering of "Just Us." A true "Just Us Sunday". And now we in the GLBT community have heard yet again that these folks think the Constitution covers only Just Them.
Comments
Can you tell us who was present at this Justice (Just Us) rally?
posted by Anonymous | 8/25/2005 4:42 PM | Permalink
The full line up is available on their site at: www.JusticeSunday.com
posted by Michael Cole | 9/09/2005 12:24 PM | Permalink
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