No LGBT Rights Mentioned in Sotomayor's Confirmation Hearing

I watched the opening statements made by the nineteen senators in Monday's confirmation hearing for Judge Sotomayor. Each senator previewed what they were going to be asking Judge Sotomayor tomorrow, and as a gay man I was disappointed. Not one Senator stated that he or she would be asking Judge Sotomayor about the need to protect the rights of the LGBT community. How can that be? Judge Sotomayor will sit on the court and decide major decisions that affect the LGBT community but not one senator stated that these inherent rights were important enough to ask her about in the hearing. Senators made clear they would be asking about many other rights including gun rights, environmental rights, the rights of religious minorities, the rights of communities of color, and the right of women to choose. But not one said they would ask about LGBT rights.

In fact, the only senators to bring up gay issues were Senator Tom Corburn of Oklahoma and Senator John Cornyn of Texas, both of whom mentioned gay issues to bash the idea of gay rights. Senator Corburn mentioned he disagreed with the "empathy standard" in which a judge who hears a case on gay rights would look at the case through the eyes of gay people. Senator Cornyn on the other hand chastised the Supreme Court for inventing "new rights" such as the right to "sexual activity," a clear reference to the courts overturning of sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas.

For those keeping score, that's two senators who felt the need to gay bash and no senators who felt the need to speak up for gay rights. All this while liberal senators, time and again, heralded the importance of diversity. Time and again, senators made clear that Judge Sotomayor's Latina background would only add to her value as a judge. I couldn't agree more. Being a minority allows Judge Sotomayor by manner of her life experience, the ability to see and understand issues differently. Perhaps, that is why no senator sought fit to ask about the rights of gay people. After all, the United States Senate has no diversity when it comes to the LGBT community. There are no openly gay senators. There never has been an openly gay senator. So perhaps it is not surprising that all senators forget to ask about gay rights because when push comes to shove gay rights simply aren't important to them in same way that they would be important to a gay person.

But that should not mean that gay rights aren't important. The simple fact is this: LGBT people matter and need to hear that Judge Sotomayor will protect our rights as a member of the Supreme Court.

So senators, when the hearing resumes, do right by the LGBT community. Ask Judge Sotomayor about our lives, our rights and our humanity. Given we still cannot serve openly in the military, we can still be fired in over thirty states because of our sexual orientation and even more because of our gender identity, and we still do not have the full rights of marriage, I can think of no community who needs such assurances more.

Comments

[Josh Reitan]

Your right Jake. Lets hope someone stands up for the community today.

[JohnInKC]

Hey, I'm an Army Veteran and also the dad of a disabled Army Veteran (wounded in Iraq).
Didn't hear any of the Senators mentioning any those issues and I'm not standing in the "bitching line".
Maybe since there are so many other important issues besides just yours, LGBT issues aren't always on the top of everyone's "To Do" list.
And to your comment, "do right by the LGBT community". How about the "American" community?

[PlaceboStudman]

What issues of discrimination are being faced by the military community that might be brought up as a case that faces SCOTUS?

Now, your son may have some issues or complaints of discrimination as a disabled man that might come up to SCOTUS, and if such a case does face a SCOTUS detemination, I would be standing (okay, sitting, as I am wheelchair bound) right there next to him in support of his cause against discrimination

[PlaceboStudman]

Sadly, the issue of gay rights, and the mere existance of gays, to some people is still a hot button moral issue that no one wants to touch. With Sotomayor already having stated that RvW is established law, that issue is already decided, and the conservatives have lost that battle. Are they really going to put their necks on the line and raise another question that they are not absolutely sure would be a winner for their cause of eradicating gays, and homosexuality in general from the face of the planet, as we all know they secretly and not-so-secretly want to do? Of course not. They're going to leave the issue alone, vote against her confirmation, and knowing full well that she is on the bench and will likely vote in favor of gay rights (I can hope!) the conservatives can sit back and yell and scream about "activist judges" and make themself look good at that time, when they would only end up looking bad if they brought up the topic now, considering the momentum gay rights is building