Scalia: ‘Don’t Paint Me As Anti-Gay’

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Thursday night told an audience he doesn’t want to be labeled “anti-gay.”

At George Washington University Lisner Auditorium Thursday night, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told the audience of about 1400 people that he doesn’t want to be called “anti-gay,” “anti-abortion,” or anti-anything.

The 78-year old Roman Catholic, who, analyses show to be among the most conservative on today’s court, shared the stage with his colleague, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

When the talk turned to marriage equality, an issue before the court, Justice Ginsburg shared her thoughts of how the nation came so quickly to embrace expanding the institution to same-sex couples.

“My own view of it is that people who once hid what they were have announced to the world this is who I am,” she said, according to the Washington Blade.

“And we looked to see who they are. They turned out to be our next door neighbor of whom we’re very fond. They turned out to be our child’s best friend – perhaps even our child,” she said. “I think that accounts for the very swift change.”

Scalia, who may be best-remembered one day for his Lawrence v. Texas dissent (which in a way paved the road for same-sex marriage) tried to frame the debate as not one of substance – whether same-sex marriage is right or wrong, should be legal or not – but rather on of who gets to decide.

“The issue of gay rights, on abortion, on many of the issues in which Ruth’s opinions and mine differ does not pertain to the substance,” Scalia told the audience. “It doesn’t pertain to whether gay people ought to have those rights or whether there ought to be a constitutional right or a right to an abortion,” he said. “That isn’t the issue. The issue is who decides.” 

“That’s all. I don’t have any public views on any of those things. The point is who decides? Should these decisions be made by the Supreme Court without any text in the Constitution or any history in the Constitution to support imposing on the whole country or is it a matter left to the people?” the jurist asked.

“But don’t paint me as anti-gay or anti-abortion or anything else,” he added. “All I’m doing on the Supreme Court is opining about who should decide.”

Scalia, who calls himself a textualist, is responsible for the claim that the Constitution should be interpreted not as a living document, but only with what the words on the document’s page say specifically – much as religious extremists read the bible. 

Justice Ginsburg managed to redirect Scalia’s attempt to re-frame the conversation, noting that the American people have already decided.

“It isn’t the Supreme Court that is deciding for the whole society like an imperial ruler. There hasn’t been any major change in which there wasn’t a groundswell among the people before the Supreme Court put its stamp of approval on the inclusion in the equality concept of people who were once left out,” she told her colleague.

Some on Twitter were quick to rebut Justice Scalia.

 

 

 

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