Judge Walker’s Sexual Orientation in Question
Cited: Daily News
People are so angry they are now judging the judge will upended California’s same-sex marriage ban this week. They are scrutinizing his sexual life implying that he is gay himself. This raises another question, while his sexual orientation even matter?
The whole issue has created a rather muddled and finger-pointing debate in newspapers and the blogosphere, as angry supporters of the gay marriage ban argue that Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker did not act impartially.
But some experts say his private life doesn’t matter.
Larry Levine, a professor at the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento told the Sacramento Bee that Walker’s sexuality doesn’t—or shouldn’t— make a difference.
“I think it’s profoundly offensive to suggest that a judge who is not of the sexual orientation of the majority or the race of the majority or the religion of the majority is unfit to hear the case,” he told the newspaper.
“Are they saying that an African American judge can never rule on an affirmative action case and a Muslim can never rule on a case dealing with religious expression?”
The San Francisco Chronicle said the judge being gay is “the biggest open secret” in a column, although Walker himself hasn’t addressed the speculation about his sexual orientation.
Nonetheless, supporters of the gay marriage ban are outraged.
“Here we have an openly gay federal judge,” Maggie Gallagher, chairwoman of The National Organization for Marriage, who advocated for Proposition 8, told the Associated Press. She said the judge was “substituting his views for those of the American people”
Some are saying Walker should have addressed his sexuality before the trial, and Bryan Fischer, issues director for the American Family Association, is urging members to contact their political representatives to impeach the court proceedings.
On Wednesday, Walker ruled the voter-enacted ban, known as Proposition 8 “singles out gays and lesbians and legitimates their unequal treatment.”
The ban was passed in 2008 in a narrowly passed referendum five months after the state Supreme Court legalized gay marriage. The case is expected to head to the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals.
Walker, 65, was born in Watseka, Ill. President Ronald Reagan initially nominated him, but he wasn’t confirmed until 1989 by George H.W. Bush. The New York Times described him as an “independent-minded conservative” who has come out in favor of the legalization of drugs and once ruled in the mid-90s that the cops used reasonable force when they pepper sprayed anti-logging protesters.
Having previously been denounced by feminist and gay-rights groups for being a member of a private club that only recently allowed blacks to join is ironic. However, the verdict on this controversy is still out.
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My Take: If the judge is homosexual, it should make any difference. Because that would bring up a whole other can of worms that might state aid female judge is harsher on rapists than male judges. Or maybe that it lawyer should be able to defend someone because they have experienced what the defendant has experienced. For example, New York City car accidents lawyer or even LA injury attorneys should represent someone who has been in a car accident because they have been one himself. I know I may be splitting hairs but really, his sexual orientation should have nothing to do with. Talk about discrimination!
One thing I do know about this gay marriage situation is that a divorce attorney will probably be getting more clients just as any divorce lawyer would. Gay marriages will have the same problems as heterosexual marriages will. Of course, homosexual marriages may not have to worry too much about prom dresses or tuxedos because not many will be having children the natural way. Although, some will be able to adopt, this is only natural.
Then again, many lesbians will be buying formal dresses for their weddings and possibly some gay guys as well. I for one do not see any problem with gay marriages. I am a firm believer in what goes on behind closed doors stays behind closed doors and is nobody else’s business.
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