barney frank called justice scalia a homophobe

[Rich]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9z-Q8fSZc4

i thought this was a pretty good interview but i am not sure what i think about his comments about the justice

[nickbaer]

From Wiki:

In 1995, then-Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey famously referred to Rep. Barney Frank as "Barney Fag" in a press interview. Armey apologized and said it was a slip of the tongue.

[Lee]

Ya know, i used to like Barney but over the past couple of years i have found him to become very 'preachy' when it comes to gay rights issues, he's almost borderline right-wing gay.

Regards,

Lee

[GayGeek]

I am a major supporter of Barney Frank limited only by the fact that I don't live in his district and can't vote for him.

When I heard about these comments, I specifically looked up the context in which he said them. After viewing them I totally agree.

He was saying that knows that the gay marriage issue will eventually reach the US Supreme Court, but doesn't support it being taken there at this point because Scalia has too many votes on the Court. He said Scalia was homophobic not on the basis of any of his private statements or views, but solely on the basis of his dissention in the Lawrence v. Texas (which struck down sodomy laws) cases as well as the case that stuck down the "anti-gay rights ordinance" in Colorado (whose name escapes me at the moment).

He said he does not find someone like Clarence Thomas to be homophobic because he writes well-thought out views justifying his conservative views on a Constitutional basis. Ie; Thomas agreed that sodomy laws are ridiculous, but did not believe there was a Constitutional basis to overturn them.

Scalia, on the other hand, argued that society has a right to restrict behavior it has traditionally found as deviant or reprehensible (my words, I don't remember his exact phrasing). He believed that there was no basis for overturning them simply because society has a right to restrict what two men or two women do in bed together.

That's homophobic, and that's why I agree with Frank's statements.

--Aaron