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Gay Students Protest Scalia Speech


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Gay Students Protest Scalia Speech

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

April 12, 2006 - 1:00 pm ET

(Hartford, Connecticut) Gay law students staged a kiss-in Wednesday to protest a speech by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the University of Connecticut.

Members of the Lambda Law Society set up a kissing booth at the front of the school.

"We want to make sure people understand what the concerns are with him, and why his views are particularly offensive," said Colby Smith, who wore an "I Kiss Boys" T-shirt.

Scalia was spirited into the auditorium through a side entrance. If the most conservative member of the high court saw the protest, he did not mention it in his speech.

His address, on constitutional law, featured a defense of his position opposing the overturning of sodomy laws in Lawrence v Texas.

Scalia repeated a mantra he has given at other law schools, that judges should not be making new law and that the courts have a right to uphold what he called community morals.

Students attending the lecture were chosen by having their names drawn randomly from a lottery.

"Having a justice visit your campus is exciting no matter what you think about his views," said third-year student Hugo Tomasia of Norwalk, one of those who won a seat for the speech. "I think it's important to hear all kinds of views on important topics."

Scalia, 70, was appointed in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Reagan nominated him four years later to the U.S. Supreme Court, filling the opening that occurred when William Rehnquist became chief justice.

Scalia was one of three justices who dissented in the 2003 Lawrence v Texas ruling that said states cannot make laws regarding the private sexual conduct of Americans.

The others were Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justice Clarence Thomas.

"The court has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda," Scalia wrote for the three. He took the unusual step of reading his dissent from the bench.

"The court has taken sides in the culture war," Scalia said, adding that he has "nothing against homosexuals."

©365Gay.com 2006

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