Talk Elections

General Discussion => History => Topic started by: Torie on January 22, 2017, 04:26:23 PM



Title: What it was like being gay in 1965
Post by: Torie on January 22, 2017, 04:26:23 PM
It was hell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cUtwFLUaOU). And the shrinks thought we were mentally ill, and sodomy was a crime everywhere, discrimination obviously was the norm, and SCOTUS upheld it all as comporting with the Constitution. I was made aware of the video on a Freakonomics radio show, about incrementalism, and one section was how the LGBT movement tore that particular fetid house of bigotry down, brick by brick, one step at a time, culminating in SSM. But in many states it is still legal to discriminate against LGBT's, and SCOTUS has upheld that. All such states should be boycotted.


Title: Re: What it was like being gay in 1965
Post by: MarkD on January 22, 2017, 05:24:45 PM
It was hell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cUtwFLUaOU). And the shrinks thought we were mentally ill, and sodomy was a crime everywhere1, discrimination obviously was the norm, and SCOTUS upheld it all as comporting with the Constitution2. I was made aware of the video on a Freakonomics radio show, about incrementalism, and one section was how the LGBT movement tore that particular fetid house of bigotry down, brick by brick, one step at a time, culminating in SSM. But in many states it is still legal to discriminate against LGBT's, and SCOTUS has upheld that3. All such states should be boycotted.

1: Except Illinois. But 49 out of 50 was still hellish.
2: The only SCOTUS decision I'm aware of was in 1967, when it ruled that it was legal and constitutionally permissible for the Immigration & Naturalization Service to deport immigrants because they're gay. Can you tell me about any other decisions in 1965 or prior?
3: Which decision said that? Romer v. Evans said that no state could repeal all of the laws/ordinances that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation, but are you saying that there's been some SCOTUS ruling that if a state simply does not have any laws/ordinances about it, then the Constitution allows that (as if some gay resident of such a state sued the state and argued that it is unconstitutional to not have such laws/ordinances)?


Title: Re: What it was like being gay in 1965
Post by: Torie on January 22, 2017, 05:30:16 PM
Not sure. It is just my impression that SCOTUS has never ruled that it is unconstitutional to discriminate against gays in employment. It is not a suspect class. But I could be wrong. It does not come up much, because most states do ban such discrimination. Certainly the two states that I have lived in, CA and NY, do -obviously! :)  And I don't have a list of states that lack anti discrimination laws on their books when it comes to the LGBT community.

Anyway, I googled, and found this (http://www.infoplease.com/gay-pride-month/supreme-court-decisions.html). It comports with what you said.