Barney Frank just calls a spade a spade. Rep. Frank called Scalia a homophobe while being interviewed about gay-rights issues, and he stated the obvious reason why the Roberts Court isn't a good thing to have to call on, with a Scalia (and a Thomas) in the house.
Frank: ... [A]t some point it's going to have to go to the Supreme Court. I wouldn't want it to go to the US Supreme Court now, because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has got too many votes on this current court.
Barney Frank makes this observation because of the dissenting opinion that Scalia penned, along with his pal Clarence Thomas, in Lawrence v. Texas, the ruling which overturned Bowers v. Hardwick, the ruling that had previously upheld anti-sodomy laws. Here's what Scalia wrote:
One of the most revealing statements in today’s opinion is the Court’s grim warning that the criminalization of homosexual conduct is “an invitation to subject homosexual persons to discrimination both in the public and in the private spheres.” Ante, at 14. It is clear from this that the Court has taken sides in the culture war, departing from its role of assuring, as neutral observer, that the democratic rules of engagement are observed. Many Americans do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children’s schools, or as boarders in their home. They view this as protecting themselves and their families from a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive.
NYU's Eric Berndt had a very interesting exchange with Scalia over this in a Q&A session. He also wrote a letter about it.
Anita Bryant, anyone?
