A First for the Court

For the first time in its history the U.S. Supreme Court took a step the other day toward recognizing the rights of homosexuals. It was a small step, to be sure, and it was not a precedent-setting decision, but it was significant nonetheless. By a 4-4 vote the court upheld a lower court’s ruling that it was unconstitutional for Oklahoma to fire teachers for advocating homosexuality and gay rights.

The justices issued their decision without a written opinion and without specifying how each had voted, except to say that Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr., who was recovering from surgery when oral arguments were heard, had not participated in the case.

But, to their credit, four members of the court saw the Oklahoma law as an unconstitutional infringement on the freedom of speech of teachers. They agreed with the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, which ruled last year that in seeking to regulate speech outside the classroom the law was too broad and sweeping. Teachers’ rights under the First Amendment may be restricted only to prevent disruptions in school.

By deciding the case on the free-speech issue, the high court once again sidestepped the central question of the legal rights of gay people, which remains unadjudicated. In another gay-rights case last year the court also declined to make a definitive ruling. After agreeing to consider the case and hearing oral arguments, the court reversed itself and decided that it did not want to decide whether a New York law prohibiting loitering in a public place for the purpose of homosexual activity was unconstitutional.

Sooner or later the justices will have to face the issue squarely. They still have a case on this year’s docket that would allow them to do so. Texas A&M; University is appealing a lower court’s ruling that the university must grant official recognition to a gay student group. The justices should uphold that decision and make clear to the nation that discrimination based on sexual preference is illegal. Gay people are entitled to all the rights and privileges that everyone else enjoys.