gay rights - Free For All

May 06, 2008

Loving in Virginia
By Harvey Silverglate

Today's newspapers carry the obituary for the somewhat accidental civil rights pioneer Mildred Loving, who died last Friday at 68. Loving and her late husband Richard were the plaintiffs in one of the most important civil rights cases ever to reach the Supreme Court. Their exquisitely- and aptly-named case, Loving v.

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0

ACLU, federalism, gay rights

February 14, 2008

Scalia is No Civil Libertarian
By Wendy Kaminer
By Wendy Kaminer,

Is the animosity of civil libertarians toward Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, “misguided,” as Harvey suggests below? Not hardly; and it is not simply based on Scalia’s opposition to gay rights and reproductive choice, as Harvey implies. While I agree that Scalia's recent remarks about torture are not grounds for impeachment, I don't suspect him of being a closet civil libertarian.

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criminal justice, First Amendment, gay rights

November 08, 2007

This Just In: Jury Hates "God Hates Fags"
By webteam

By James F. Tierney
Last week the family of a U.S. marine who died in Iraq won a $10.9 million award against members of the Westboro Baptist Church for picketing outside the soldier’s funeral, bearing signs reading “God Hates Fags.” (They “argue” that U.S. servicemen and women are dying in Iraq because God is punishing the U.

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10

censorship, First Amendment, free speech

November 08, 2007

Faith Based Bigotries
By Wendy Kaminer
By Wendy Kaminer

Anyone who has yet to be convinced that the term “faith-based” social services is a euphemism for sectarian social services should consider that the Bush Administration has directed 98% of “faith based” foreign aid funds to Christian groups (according to a 2006 report by the Boston Globe.) That should come as no surprise.

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7

First Amendment, gay rights, religion

August 31, 2007

What's So Bad About Soliciting Sex?
By Wendy Kaminer
It’s long been apparent from Mitt Romney’s opportunistic political career that he lacks both courage and conviction (except perhaps for a sincere belief in his own goodness and entitlement to power.) So his swift and spineless denunciations of Larry Craig are no surprise, although as Harvey stresses in his post below, the comparison of Romney to both Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater, who made a principled decision not to engage in gay bashing given a similar opportunity (in a much less tolerant era,) is instructive.

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2

gay rights, indecency, privacy

Boston Phoenix
Barney's Big Surprise
Published 12/2/2011 by EDITORIAL
A working-class hero goes down kvetching. Plus, new hope in the fight against AIDS.