Thursday, May 7, 2009

Top Republican, Focus on the Family on Possibility of Gay Justice

This morning, the top ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee said that a gay Supreme Court nomination wasn't an automatic disqualification. Saith Ben Smith:
"I don't think a person who acknowledges that they have gay tendencies is disqualified per se for the job,” Sessions tells Mark Halperin on Morning Joe.

That doesn't really answer the question of whether he thinks somebody who is openly gay, as opposed to struggling with those "tendencies," is qualified, though I think he meant to indicate he wouldn't pick that ground to fight on.

Focus on the Family later echoed Session's sentiment. Money quote:

We agree with Senator Sessions,” Bruce Hausknecht, a spokesperson for Focus on the Family, which was founded by top religious right figure James Dobson, told me a few minutes ago. “The issue is not their sexual orientation. It’s whether they are a good judge or not.”

Their sexual orientation “should never come up,” he continued. “It’s not even pertinent to the equation.”

I am sure we could name the "ground[s] to fight on," but I am glad that this at least isn't an issue.

Of note, speculation swirls around the possibilities of Kathleen Sullivan and Pam Karlan, both openly gay, as front-runners for the nomination.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well, this is good news, Drew!

I don't believe someone's sexual orientation should concern us. If they have come this far, and are up for the nomination, then it means they have not made it an issue in their professional lives.

If they are nominated, and it does become an issue, we can always send them them to the "Ted Haggard Gay-Stay-Away Bootcamp" and that will rid them of everything....

It works! Just ask Ted...LOL

Ciao