Flexing the 14th Amendment & Coretta Scott King & MLK Jr. Stand For Gay Rights
I first posted this in 2009 and thought it was a good time to post it again:
Flexing the Fourteenth Amendment: The New Inclusion of Gay and Lesbian Americans in the U.S. Constitution
Quote from Bergeron, Joe. "Flexing the Fourteenth Amendment: The New Inclusion of Gay and Lesbian Americans in the U.S. Constitution" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Marriott Hotel, Oakland, California, Mar 17, 2005
http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/0/8/7/4/8/p87480_index.html?phpsessid=78b124cf584e9dcefac407ab505ccf8c
Abstract:
While the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court to protect African American civil rights since the 1950s, it was first cited as protective of gay and lesbian civil rights only in 1996. This work analyzes the new social construction of gay and lesbian civil rights within the historical context of African American civil rights. I find that such a comparative analysis is key to understanding contemporary debates relating to same-sex marriage, since same-sex marriage policy is richly based upon the historical struggle in U.S. society to recognize interracial marriage. Furthermore, though the complicated hierarchy of legal case scrutiny created in recent decades by the Court seems incompatible with democracy and indicates to us that Fourteenth Amendment values of equal protection and due process cannot be taken at face value in the American system of government, I find that the Court's new inclusion, albeit limited, of gays and lesbians in the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment shows us that the U.S. Constitution can still be a significant and promising source of rights. The Court now understands sexuality, like race, as a fixed characteristic. By constructing gays and lesbians as a legal entity in need of protection, the Court is making it easier for them to challenge discrimination.
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Coretta Scott King on Gay Rights
Category: Gay Rights
Posted on: February 7, 2006
by Ed Brayton
http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2006/02/coretta_scott_king_on_gay_righ.php
..Mrs. King spoke often to gay rights groups and always spoke out strongly for gay rights. In 1998, just a few days before the 30th anniversary of her husband's assassination, she noted the obvious similarities:
"Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood."
She also noted that her husband believed that all struggles for equal rights were bound together and that it was necessary to fight against bigotry in all forms, not merely the form that affected you personally:
"We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny...I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be," she said, quoting her husband. "I've always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans who believe in democracy."
And she pointed out that many gays and lesbians had fought for black civil rights, demanding that blacks return the favor:
"Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine, Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement," she said. "Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions."
But perhaps her most eloquent statement on the subject came in 1994, again invoking the words of her late husband in support of equal rights for all:
"For too long, our nation has tolerated the insidious form of discrimination against this group of Americans, who have worked as hard as any other group, paid their taxes like everyone else, and yet have been denied equal protection under the law...I believe that freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. My husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." On another occasion he said, "I have worked too long and hard against segregated public accommodations to end up segregating my moral concern. Justice is indivisible." Like Martin, I don't believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others."
Coretta Scott King's strong and clear voice for freedom and equality will be sorely missed.
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If Martin Luther King Jr. was here on this earth with Coretta by his side it is apparent from these comments that he would be standing with those who are waiting in line for their equal rights movement to finally cross the finish line! This is what freedom really means! Equality and justice for ALL! President Obama is in very good company!