Preserve the Balance
Team Supreme Blog
A "FAIR" Judiciary? That's what we deserve.
As snow begins to blanket Washington, DC, the city feels quiet and peaceful. But make no mistake—GLBT rights advocates will be navigating a minefield Tuesday as they present their oral arguments before the Supreme Court in FAIR v. Rumsfeld. This case challenges the Solomon Amendment, which denies federal funding to any university that does not allow military recruiters on campus. Because the military’s "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy discriminates against GLBT people, allowing these recruiters to use their facilities forces schools to violate their own anti-discrimination policies.
Nobody likes "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." Turns out that most Americans don’t care whether the soldier who captures Osama Bin Laden is gay. And they really don’t want to hear that their sister has not been able to come home from Iraq because the soldier who was supposed to replace her was kicked out for being gay.
Why does the military persist in excluding gay and lesbian patriots when our military needs them most? It certainly isn’t about military readiness—our coalition allies have openly-gay soldiers.
So basically the Solomon Amendment is a big bully in the classroom, telling the other kids what to do, even if it’s wrong.
And that’s what FAIR is about—it’s about being able to say "this is wrong, and we won’t be part of it."
The Supreme Court will have the final say in this, and many other important cases. Chief Justice John Roberts will preside over this important case. And on January 9, hearings for swing-voter Sandra Day O’Connor's replacement will begin. The nominee, Judge Samuel Alito, looks like trouble. With so much at stake, it’s important to ensure that cases like FAIR get decided by fair-minded justices.
Nobody likes "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." Turns out that most Americans don’t care whether the soldier who captures Osama Bin Laden is gay. And they really don’t want to hear that their sister has not been able to come home from Iraq because the soldier who was supposed to replace her was kicked out for being gay.
Why does the military persist in excluding gay and lesbian patriots when our military needs them most? It certainly isn’t about military readiness—our coalition allies have openly-gay soldiers.
So basically the Solomon Amendment is a big bully in the classroom, telling the other kids what to do, even if it’s wrong.
And that’s what FAIR is about—it’s about being able to say "this is wrong, and we won’t be part of it."
The Supreme Court will have the final say in this, and many other important cases. Chief Justice John Roberts will preside over this important case. And on January 9, hearings for swing-voter Sandra Day O’Connor's replacement will begin. The nominee, Judge Samuel Alito, looks like trouble. With so much at stake, it’s important to ensure that cases like FAIR get decided by fair-minded justices.
Comments
I certainly don't care if the soldier who captures OBL is gay either.
The ban is pointless, and its long overdue for the country to acknowledge the obvious.
The ban is pointless, and its long overdue for the country to acknowledge the obvious.
posted by Anonymous | 12/06/2005 12:54 PM | Permalink
This may sound like a reasonable argument, however, unlike discrimination based on age, gender, or race, there is no federal statute that bans sexual orientation discrimination.
posted by Chuck Williams | 12/06/2005 8:20 PM | Permalink
.