Activist criticises judge’s anti-gay comments

PinkNews logo on a pink background surrounded by illustrated line drawings of a rainbow, pride flag, unicorn and more.

Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese has released a statement condemning comments Justice Antonin Scalia made recently at a Swiss law school claiming there is no constitutional right to “homosexual conduct.”

According to a clip aired on CNN, on March 8, 2006, member of the US Supreme Court, Justice Scalia told students at the University of Freiburg in Switzerland, “Question comes up: is there a constitutional right to homosexual conduct? Not a hard question for me.

“It’s absolutely clear that nobody ever thought when the Bill of Rights was adopted that it gave a right to homosexual conduct. Homosexual conduct was criminal for 200 years in every state. Easy question.”

Mr Solmonese said: “Justice Scalia stubbornly refuses to see that all Americans have a right to liberty and privacy under the law.”

“Justice Scalia was dangerously out of step with Americans in 2003 when the Supreme Court decided this question and he remains so today.”

He added, “This is just the latest example of why it’s so critical that fair-minded Americans think of the Court when they head to the ballot box. With the Supreme Court tipping further to the

right, these sentiments could one day become reality.”

© 2006 GayWired.com; All Rights Reserved.