The Politics of Homophobia

BY TARA BORELLI,
STAFF ATTORNEY

With a new presidential administration taking office it's time to ring out the old and ring in the new, and not a moment too soon for the LGBT community and our allies. The outgoing administration was a loud voice against equality and while we've come to the end of that road, the anti-gay movement will be with us for a long time, and it's important to know what we're up against. Here are just a few examples from the worst hits parade:

The Anti-Gay Industrial Complex

A number of years ago our cases often involved an individual lawyer on the other side who was motivated by a paying client, not an anti-gay agenda. Now we're often up against anti-gay organizations with budgets many times the size of ours, who make our work needlessly more difficult and expensive. Consider the California Supreme Court's ruling in favor of our client Lupita Benitez—anti-gay groups have been litigating against her discrimination case as hard as they can, and she has had to wait seven years for a ruling that the doctors who refused her fertility services because she is a lesbian have to follow the civil rights laws like everyone else. Now the case heads back to the trial court. Or consider Ralph v. New Orleans, a case in which we've been defending New Orleans' domestic partner registry, and the city's health care benefits for employees' partners from legal attack by one of the same anti-gay groups since 2003.

Clueless

In California, anti-gay groups have filed lawsuits arguing that individuals couldn't possibly be expected to avoid committing hate crimes against LGBT people, or discriminating against LGBT students because “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are far too baffling to understand. Anti-gay forces have raised similar arguments seeking to prevent the Arizona Bar Association from adopting anti-discrimination obligations for lawyers. We're helping to defeat these arguments, but it's sure starting to seem like these folks could use a tutorial.

These anti-gay tactics can seem a bit discouraging, but the LGBT movement is fearless and fabulous. While fear and homophobia still motivate many, we're working hard to undo the damage. As change comes to Washington, we're starting a new chapter in our movement. We won't get the change we need unless we keep fighting for it and at Lambda Legal we'll continue to make the case for equality.