In today’s closing arguments of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, there was a fair amount of reference to “High Tech Gays.” While I’m not a lawyer, I’m pretty good with the Google machine. Here’s what I found:
In last year’s trial brief of the Prop 8 Proponents (anti-marriage equality folks) they reference a case known as “High Tech Gays v. Defense Indus. Sec. Clearance Office.” The brief reads,
“To the extent Proposition 8 draws a distinction based on sexual orientation, it is subject only to rational basis review under the Equal Protection Clause. Like every other federal court of appeals to address the issue, the Ninth Circuit has squarely held that “homosexuals do not constitute a suspect or quasi-suspect class entitled to greater than rational basis scrutiny.†E.g., High Tech Gays v. Defense Indus. Sec. Clearance Office, 895 F.2d 563, 574 (9th Cir. 1990). Specifically, it has held that suspect or quasi-suspect classification requires a showing that a group (1) has suffered a history of discrimination, (2) is defined by an immutable characteristic, and (3) is politically powerless, and that gays and lesbians do not satisfy the second and third requirements.”
(emphasis added)
So, the defendants are arguing that gays (high tech or not) are not a “suspect class,” a group subject to discrimination.
Um, OK… Guess they never went to high school…
Oh, and “High Tech Gays?” It “was a social organization that met in San Jose from 1984 thru 1997. The organization was disbanded in the spring of 1998.”
“High Tech Gays v. Defense Indus. Sec. Clearance Office” was a case that found that “established that homosexuals were a definable minority.”
Hope that gives you a little bit more insight.
By the way, “High Tech Gays” does have, of course, a Facebook page.
By definition or any other form of scrutiny, I am proud to be a “High Tech Gay.”