The name game: California says gays are "suspect." Connecticut calls us "quasi-suspect." Huh?IN THE CONNECTICUT supreme court The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. ruling in October legalizing same-sex marriage Noun 1. same-sex marriage - two people of the same sex who live together as a family; "the legal status of same-sex marriages has been hotly debated" couple, twosome, duet, duo - a pair who associate with one another; "the engaged couple"; "an inseparable , gay people were declared a "quasi-suspect" class. California took it a step further in deciding last May to strike down a ban on same-sex marriage, calling gay people part of a "suspect" class. This doesn't mean there's something shady about homosexuality. It means gay men and lesbians are now recognized (by California's highest court, at least) as a minority with a "suspect classification"--their sexual orientation sexual orientation n. The direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes, especially a direction seen to be dictated by physiologic rather than sociologic forces. . That means this is a characteristic that in California, like race, religion, or gender, gets the benefit of the doubt in discrimination cases. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The practical advantage of this declaration is that any law that treats someone differently based on his or her sexual orientation is now considered discriminatory and thus unconstitutional unconstitutional adj. referring to a statute, governmental conduct, court decision or private contract (such as a covenant which purports to limit transfer of real property only to Caucasians) which violate one or more provisions of the U. S. Constitution. in California. "This is a huge shift in the law in our favor," says Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a non-profit, public interest law firm that litigates precedent-setting cases at the trial and appellate court levels, advocates for equitable public policies affecting the LGBT community, provides free legal assistance to LGBT . While Connecticut's court hedged a bit by using the term "quasi-suspect," it still means the state's judges will apply heightened scrutiny to any evidence of discrimination. Jon Davidson, legal director of Lambda Legal Lambda Legal (Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund) is a United States civil rights organization that focuses on gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work. , explains the two crucial factors applied in determining a "suspect" classification (courts disagree on which factors beyond these are relevant): There has to have been a history of discrimination against the group--and every court concedes this with relation to gays--and secondly, there's no rational foundation for that bias. These rulings aren't binding outside California and Connecticut, but they'll be profoundly helpful for gay people seeking equal rights through the courts in those two states. |
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