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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Jan. 20, 2005
/ 10 Shevat, 5765
The law has caught up with public opinion on gay-rights matters
By
Peter A. Brown
Despite gay-rights advocates' efforts to sell their agenda as the next step in the civil-rights movement, the courts and the country are not yet sold on their one gigantic premise
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing states to ban gay adoption may surprise some, because the high court two years ago, in effect, legalized homosexuality.
But this decision shows that the law, for now, seems to have caught up with public opinion on gay-rights matters.
There is a consensus that homosexuals deserve the same basic rights as all Americans. But those individual rights may be tempered due to public concerns about the impact of homosexual conduct on society.
And despite gay-rights advocates' efforts to sell their agenda as the next step in the civil-rights movement, the courts and the country are not yet sold on their one gigantic premise:
That when it comes to questions about conflicting rights and government protections, homosexuality should merit the same status in the legal pecking order as does race.
The decision may foreshadow the court's inclination to let voters, either directly or through their elected officials, decide whether to expand the definition of what constitutes a basic right. And it evidences a commitment to give states great latitude in this area.
None of this can be comforting to the gay-rights movement, which has counted on the courts to provide the victories that recent elections show are not obtainable at the ballot box.
Although it is difficult to generalize because the Supreme Court did not issue a decision in the adoption case — it only refused to hear a lower court appeal — this ruling would seem to send an important signal about the future:
That in the biggest case dealing with gay rights coming down the pike, this Supreme Court may be unwilling to junk a federal law that allows states to decide not to recognize gay marriages sanctioned by other states.
If so, and the federal Defense of Marriage Act can withstand judicial scrutiny, it would greatly defuse the movement for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex unions.
The adoption case stemmed from a 28-year-old Florida law that has been a target of homosexual-rights groups. They wanted to overturn Florida's statute that prevents gays from adopting children, although many serve as foster parents.
The court, by refusing to act, implicitly adopted the lower-court rationale that it was permissible to discriminate against homosexuals due to concern about the welfare of the children in same-sex households.
The Supreme Court was able to do so because sexual orientation is not a protected category in federal law or the Constitution, unlike race, sex, religion or disability. Gays are a protected class in some states, but not Florida, the only one to ban gay adoption.
The adoption ruling is in philosophical sync with a similar decision by the court last year, which followed the same principle in refusing to hear a challenge to Massachusetts' legalization of gay marriage.
There, too, the court decided that it was a political matter that should be left to individual states to decide, and that the issue did not rise to one that violates constitutionally guaranteed rights.
Gay-rights groups had hoped that the 2003 Supreme Court decision throwing out a Texas law making sodomy illegal and decriminalizing homosexuality would become their Brown v. Board of Education. That was the 1954 Supreme Court ruling that ordered school desegregation and opened an era of government-mandated progress for blacks in the United States across the board.
Although such progress for gays has been achieved in some states — Massachusetts, for instance, which legalized gay marriage last year — it has not yet led to congressional action or nationwide court rulings extending rights to gays.
In fact, in refusing to hear the Florida case, the court made clear it did not see the Texas decision as groundbreaking and requiring further steps favored by gay-rights groups.
Meanwhile, the political backlash against gay rights has been substantial. In 11 states this past year, voters explicitly banned homosexual marriage in their constitutions. Obviously, the ruling in the adoption case indicates that the odds are strongly against the Supreme Court invalidating such expressions of public will.
Of course, given the likelihood President Bush will appoint judges disinclined to make social policy from the bench, any forthcoming changes in the Supreme Court are likely to just continue the adoption case trend.
The concerns expressed by social conservatives and hopes of gay-rights leaders that the 2003 Texas ruling would open the door to wholesale changes in American life seem, at this point, to be unfounded.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in uplifting articles.
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JWR contributor Peter A. Brown is an editorial page columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. Comment by clicking here. here.
© 2005, The Orlando Sentinel Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services
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